One Look
by Agnes Green
Summary: He was attracted to her and he didn't know why. She was enamored by someone else and he didn't know why. He agreed to help her and he didn't know why. their friends are completely crazy and their parents want to set them up together. Dilemma? ExT SxS
1. And so it begins

**Disclaimer: i do not own any of teh characters of CCS, i have modified them to my liking however.. :D**

**One look**

One look was all it took. All she did was glance his way and he was completely taken in. He couldn't stop staring at her. She was beautiful no doubt, but that wasn't why he was staring. There was something else about her. Something he hadn't notice before. He watched, fascinated, as she made small talk with the other executives of his company, well, his father's company, but he was going to inherit it anyway so it didn't matter. When she laughed she did it from her heart, he could tell. When she sipped her champagne it was with a graceful tilt of her wrist and with her lips just barely meeting the rim of the glass. When she spoke she held herself with complete confidence, even though the people she was talking to were far beyond her years. He just couldn't help but stare at her. She might not have been the most attractive young woman in the room but she was certainly the most interesting to observe.

She glanced at him once. She didn't mean to, it was purely by accident. She had seen him when she walked into the gala and couldn't help but take in the sight of him. He looked so splendid in his tailored suit, and black tie. His hair shone blue in the dim lights of the chandelier and his stance at the refreshment table was confident, cool, and extremely bored. She couldn't help but laugh at her own observation. Galas probably weren't his party scene. She looked away and followed her mother and made small talk with some of her mother's colleagues who she was introduced to. Her mind wandered away from the conversation for a second as her eyes took in the beauty of the room they were in. Her gaze traveled along the string of lights, down the line of curtains and stopped as his eyes locked with her eyes. She smiled a little awkwardly and took a quick nervous sip of her drink and turned back to the conversation. She really hadn't meant to look at him. It just happened.

"Sonomi! What a pleasure it is to see you again!" Mr. Hiiragizawa greeted happily to his business partner.

"Takashi! Kimiko! It's been so long!" replied Mrs. Daidouji with a bright smile on her face as she greeted the Hiiragizawa couple. "Thank you so much for the invitation! May I ask how the world has been to you thus far?"

"Ah, not too bad I'd say. I mean I do have this fantastic house to prove it." They laughed over their silly joke.

"I don't believe that I have introduced you to my son now have I Sonomi?" asked Mrs. Hiiragizawa.

"No, no I haven't met the young man as yet." said Sonomi.

"Well, then I should introduce him to you now!" She turned her attention to a handsome boy who was standing at the refreshment table and staring at nothing in particular. "Eriol honey, could you come over here please." She called out to him, and he came toward them obediently.

"You called Mom?" his voice was completely respectful, but he sounded terribly irritated. Sonomi couldn't help but smile at this. The boy could not have been over eighteen.

"Yes. Dear, I would like you to meet Mrs. Sonomi Daidouji. She is the owner and founder of the famous Daidouji Toy Company." said Kimiko to her son.

"Oh! It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Daidouji." said Eriol with a slight bow.

"And Sonomi, this is my son Eriol." smiled Kimiko.

"Ah, yes, I've heard so much about you it feels like I know you already! Well it's a pleasure to meet you too." Sonomi smiled at the boy in front of her. "Since we're all introducing people to each other, I would also like to introduce to you my daughter." There was a shine in her eyes as she said this. "Tomoyo, sweetie?" she said to a young girl with pretty amethyst eyes and smoky hair. The girl excused herself from the conversation she was in and came to her mother's side. "I want you to meet some very good friends of mine." She said turning to the Hiiragizawas. "This is Mr. and Mrs. Hiiragizawa."

"How do you do?" greeted Tomoyo politely with a soft smile. "I'm Tomoyo. It's very nice to finally get to meet you. Your home is so lovely! Thank you for inviting me to the gala. I really hadn't expected an invitation!"

"Oh, it was our pleasure and thank you!" smiled Takashi. "I'm glad that you are enjoying yourself. I did fear that you would be a little bored here as there aren't any people your age here. I know that my son wishes he could be somewhere else. He hates galas like this, but we forced him to come." at this Takashi let out a hearty laugh. "We told him that here would be a lot of pretty girls here."

"Dad!" Eriol was mortified, and tried hard to control his blush as everyone burst out laughing.

"Oh and Tomoyo, this is Eriol." Sonomi gestured toward the blushing boy.

"Yes, I know, we've met before. How are you Eriol?" Tomoyo said calmly.

"I'm doing well. And you?" Eriol looked her straight in the eye as their old rivalry started to surface again.

"I've never been better." Tomoyo smiled at him, knowing that a competition was to come.

"Pardon me, but did you say that you both have met before?" said Kimiko, a little amused.

"Yes Mom. We worked on a play together." He said still looking at Tomoyo; silently daring her to say something.

"You remember which one right Mom?" said Tomoyo to her mother, taking the dare happily and adding her own finesse to it. "It was the joint production of Romeo and Juliet, the one that the Tomeda Girl's Academy did with the Tomeda Boy's Academy."

"Yes, Tomoyo and I were co-directors." Eriol smiled and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"Yes. I also designed the costumes and Eriol composed the music for the play." She finished with a smirk. She had gotten the last word. She had won.

Their parents watched this little exchange in fascination. Never before had they seen their children so quick witted and competitive. "I don't believe I remember this particular play." said Sonomi sharing a knowing smile with Kimiko and Takashi.

"It's the one that you missed I think." Tomoyo said quietly.

"Oh yes, I remember Eriol telling me about that play as well. We missed it too." Kimiko said, realization dawning on her. "Remember Takashi, we had to leave for Australia and we couldn't go and see it."

"Ah, yes. I remember now. I heard from quite a lot of people that it was very good. There was lots of praise especially for the costumes and the music." Takashi winked at the two teens.

"Eriol, why don't you ask lovely Miss. Tomoyo over here to dance with you?" suggested Kimiko to her son.

"Yes, the two of you would probably get bored of talking to us old people." laughed Sonomi.

Tomoyo looked a little panicked and Eriol smirked at her reaction. "Why I would love to. Tomoyo, shall we?" Ever the gentleman, Eriol held out his hand for her but didn't even try to hide his smirk. She threw a glare at him but took his hand none the less. He was winning now but she would do something about that.

"They make quite a pair don't they." Commented Sonomi as they watched their children head to the dance floor.

"Yes they do." Kimiko had a dreamy look in her eyes.

"Kimiko dearest, are you thinking what I am?" Takashi had a sparkle in his eyes as he said this.

"Takashi! We couldn't!" Kimiko giggled a little.

"Oh, but it would be so much fun!" Sonomi smiled as a decision was made, and the three adults regressed into a secret conversation much of which concerned the two presently dancing teens.

As they reached the dance floor, Eriol pulled her in dramatically to himself and began to waltz slowly. He was completely aware that the few other teens at the party were staring at them, and that his dance partner was extremely annoyed with him.

"Why did you do that Eriol?" said Tomoyo through gritted teeth, pushing a little away from him so that she wasn't pressed up against him. "You know that they're gonna start plotting now!" her eyes narrowed as she effortlessly glided along with him to the song.

"Oh don't be such a party pooper!" he said with laughing eyes, "It's probably the most fun that they'll have all night. Besides, at least you don't have to talk to boring executives now. You should be thanking me for rescuing you Miss. Daidouji."

"They weren't that boring." She couldn't help but smile. He was right though; this was a lot more fun. "Some of them had very interesting opinions."

"But none that you agreed with right?" he looked down at her and smiled knowingly.

"Well…you're dancing is weak." She said in a lame attempt to change the subject. If she admitted that he was right then that would mean that he won. He laughed openly at that and she huffed at his outburst. Unbeknownst to them, their parents were watching and doing silent little dances in their minds. He spun her into a twirl that she accomplished gracefully and they stepped back into the rhythm of the song.

"I noticed you standing at the refreshment table earlier." She glanced around at the other couples on the dance floor.

"You did, did you?" he was looking around as well.

"Yes. And I noticed something." He looked down at her when she said this, one eyebrow raised inquisitively. "You really don't like galas do you?" she giggled a little as his exasperated sigh confirmed her observation.

"I don't." he managed a weak smile. "You're holding up well though. Don't tell me you actually like these snore fests."

"Well, if you want them to be, these snore fests can actually be fun." she scoffed in response. He smirked and she stuck her tongue out at him.

They danced through two more songs, neither wanting to return to the party. Eriol had settled comfortably enough with his arms wrapped around her waist. Tomoyo on the other hand could not be more nervous. She didn't know what to do with her hands. If she held onto him too tight she might give him the wrong message, and if she held him too loose it would give him a reason to press closer to her. She was battling with herself when his voice broke through her thoughts. "Do you want to get out of here?" he wasn't looking at her when he asked, it was almost like he was thinking out loud.

"Did you say something?" she asked softly even though she knew what he had said.

"I said," he looked down at her, "do you want to get out of here?"

"By that do you mean that we leave the party?" she gasped a little at the slight nod of his head that was his response to her question. "But, won't we get caught or something?"

"No we wont." He chuckled a little at her response. "I own the place remember, I can do whatever I want." She wasn't convinced by his answer. "Don't worry, we won't go anywhere far. I don't know if you noticed, but there's a beach right outside. It's really nice especially at night."

She couldn't help but smile at his earnest tone. Of course she knew there was a beach outside, she wasn't stupid. And of course it would be pretty, it belonged to the Hiiragizawas. "Are you sure we won't get caught or anything?"

He laughed a little and let go of his hold of her waist and caught her hand instead. "Come on, let's go." Saying so he half pulled half led her out the house through the patio that let out to the shore.

She stepped lightly out of her shoes and hoisted up her dress. She trekked softly onto the sand and stopped to breathe in the salty air. He looked at her face and marveled at the way the moonlight played on its contours. He hadn't noticed that he was staring at her till she turned around and grinned childishly at him. "Race you to the water!" she declared before taking off in a sprint. He stared after her retreating form and smiled to himself. Another challenge had presented itself, and he would most definitely not loose to a girl, especially not Tomoyo. He caught up with her easily enough as his long legs carried him much faster than her's and the fact that he was a conditioned soccer player didn't hurt much either. He grabbed her around her waist and tackled her to the soft sand. She shrieked in surprise and burst out in laughter. She struggled out of his grip and shoved him down, splashing him with water and running a little farther away.

"You ruined my dress." She stated with a grin as she pointed the definitely ruined blue silk.

"You asked for it." He smirked at her and motioned for her to sit next to him. She complied and they both sat in silence. The moon was bright that night, and the city lights were too far away to blind out the stars. The waves crashed gently against the earth and the sounds of the party drifted through the cool night air.

"It's so peaceful here." Tomoyo gave a contented sigh. She snuggled closely into the soft sand and stared up at the stars with him. He smiled at her sigh but said nothing; he didn't want to ruin the quiet. "It's like nothing can reach us out here…" she giggled a little but she had spoken too soon for she had barely uttered her sentence when she heard the chime of her cell phone. "Oh, no…" she said as she sat up and rummaged through her purse.

"What's wrong?" he said sitting up and staring at her face as it eyebrows knitted in concentration. He was just about to offer his help when her face broke out in a happy smile.

"It's Shiro." she said as she recognized the number, and answered her phone. "Hey! How are you?"

Eriol couldn't help but gag a little. He had met Shiro at the play. Shiro went to his school, and had been one of the minor characters in the play, as well as the background designer. Naturally, they had all become friends, and as far as Eriol could tell, Tomoyo had developed a small crush on the chestnut haired boy who was considered one of the five hottest guys in the Academy. According to Tomoyo, he was a smart, sweet, caring, charming, guy. In Eriol's eyes, he was a total wuss and major jackass. Let's just say that Shiro had a reputation that Tomoyo was not aware of. "I'm at that party I was telling you about…yeah, the one at Eriol's house… he really isn't as bad as you think you know" Eriol smiled at the off hand compliment that she had given him. "…No! You can't crash it!" he heard her giggle over the phone and rolled his eyes. "Whatever, enough about him, are we still on for Saturday? …No, but why? We've been planning this for weeks! …ok fine. Well, I'll see you later I guess. Bye!" she hung up and sighed deeply.

"What do you see in that guy anyway?" Eriol said a being a little too hostile.

"I wouldn't expect you to understand. You're not as sophisticated as him." She huffed and scrunched up her nose angrly at him. Eriol couldn't help but laugh at her behavior.

"If by sophisticated you mean that I'm not an arrogant jerk that toys with peoples emotions and stands them up on dates that they have planed out to the very last detail then you're right. I'm not sophisticated at all." He looked at her and smiled. He had won again, and he could tell that it was taking all her will power to stay calm.

"Well, since you know him so well, maybe you can be civilized and help me out with something." She hugged her knees to herself and unconsciously undid her up-swept hair.

"If by 'something' you mean landing your lover-boy, then my answer is no." he didn't want to admit it but she looked very pretty with her hair down, and he had the sudden urge to run his fingers through it and see if it really was as soft as it looked.

"Oh, come on. Please!" she begged, "It's the only thing I'll ever ask of you!"

"What do I get out of it?" he asked innocently enough.

"I'll make you all the cakes that you can stuff yourself with for a week." She smiled hopefully.

"Make it two weeks and you have a deal." He looked at her with an amused expression. The only reason he had accepted the deal was because he didn't want to seem like a jerk. After all, she had gone through all that trouble of begging him. To be honest, he didn't really like sweets that much, but he did have a soft spot for her. To his surprise, she squealed and engulfed him in a hug. "I promise you won't regret this!" she said happily as she got up and started to head back toward the house.

"This should be interesting…" Eriol mumbled to himself and smiled at the thought. "Well at least I have an excuse to spend time with her now." He gave one last look to the ocean and stood up. "Hope I don't mess this up." Saying so he raced back to catch up with her.

**a/n: sooooo? should i continuee? really i want to know. if the story is worth continuing or if i should just give up now.. anyway flames r welcome R&R!**


	2. freak accident?

**a/n sry for the long wait! heres the next ch.**

**disclaimer- i dont own anything**

She had made it out of the party alive. After she and Eriol had emerged from the beach, she realized that their appearance would have been anything but normal: with his skewed glasses and rumpled hair, and her ruined dress and bare feet. The minute they walked in through the kitchen they were the object of many curious and amused stares. Lucky for her, Eriol had the presence of mind to inform her mother of the current state of her dress, and they left the party discretely. Tomoyo was surprised that her mom wasn't mad at her over the dress but she decided not to mull over the reason.

"I'm confusing myself." She muttered to herself as she inspected her plaid mini-skirt that was part of the uniform of her school. "If they think that I'm so into Eriol, they're sadly mistaken. I don't even like him, and we barely tolerate each other." She stuck a pin into her hair as she experimented with a new hairstyle. "He was really nice yesterday though. He even made sure I got out without being seen…but that's beside the point. I don't like Eriol! Not in the least!" just then she heard the unmistakable honk of her cousin's car outside. She bolted form her room grabbing her backpack, and breakfast on the way out as she jumped into the car.

"Your late." Wide green eyes stared at her as she settled herself into her seat. "You're never late." They eyes were now shining with mirth and a tinkling laugh accompanied them.

"Oh, stop it Sakura! I'm allowed my one day of not being perfect." She smiled good-naturedly at her cousin as they drove out of the Daidouji drive way and raced to school.

"Well, tell me how the party went." Sakura said eagerly, hoping that Tomoyo had picked up at least some gossip for her gossip-hungry ears.

"It was nice; I met a lot of people…" Tomoyo looked out of the window.

"And?" Sakura tore her eyes away from the road to give her cousin a stern look.

"And that was it; I told you it was my mother's friend's party. I can't believe you expected something from it." Tomoyo lied and laughed lightly.

"Oh, Tomoyo," Sakura rolled her eyes, "I'm not as idiotic as I act. Eriol Hiiragizawa just happens to be Syaoran's best friend who just happens to be the guy of my dreams about whom I make it my business to know everything and in the process know everything about his friends as well, so you think a minor detail like …oh, I don't know… 'The party was at the Hiiragizawas' house' would escape me?"

"Ok, ok, I get the point, I'll tell you everything," Sakura let out a little squeal at Tomoyo's declaration, "but only at snack though, not now. Oh, and about this Syaoran thing, I totally approver of him but shouldn't you lay off of the whole 'I'm Sakura your stalker' thing?" Sakura made a sad face, but that didn't really work for long as both girls just ended laughing their sides out.

The sidewalk was taken a storm by girls in white shirts, blue jackets, blue plaid minis and knee length socks by the time they got to the gates of their school. "What's going on here?" Sakura peered over her steering wheel, being extra careful so as not to run into any one. "Why is everyone in the street?"

"I have no idea, but I think we should join it." Tomoyo stared in an equal amount surprise and anticipation. They found a parking spot and ran to catch up with the rest of the girls. "Looks like they're headed for the Boy's Academy" noted Tomoyo, "Do you think we missed the latest memo?"

"No, I doubt that…" Sakura said as she scanned the crowed. "Oh, look! There's Chihiru, maybe she knows. Hey! Chihiru! Over here!" Sakura motioned her friend over.

"Sakura, Tomoyo, you guys finally made it!" Chihiru smiled as she came up to them, her chestnut braids trailing after her. "I suppose you want to know about what we're doing. Well, there's some sort of carnival at the Academy and the school forgot to notify us, so we get to cut classes all day and help out. It's a charity thing, but it should be fun!"

"Well I bet you're gonna have fun Chihiru," smirked Sakura, "an entire day with lover-boy Yamazaki…OOOooooOOOooo!"

"Sakura!" Chihiru looked mortified but laughed none the less. "Well you can have fun stalking the soccer captain. Why don't you just ask him out? I hear he has a little thing for you."

"Because stalking him is just so much more fun" breathed Sakura in mock bliss as the other two laughed. They met up with the rest of their friends—all of whom demanded an explanation for the mass exodus upon their arrival—and laughed and gossiped all the way to the Academy.

"Well here we are." Said Tomoyo as they reached the gates of the Boy's school. "We're probably going to get stuck with really lame jobs 'cause we got here so late." She sighed.

"Well there's the assignment board, might as well see if anything good is still left." Sighed Naoka as she pushed her glasses further up the rim of her nose.

They reached the board and felt their spirits fall even further. The only jobs that were left were: Trash collector, day-care supervisor, restroom supervisor, greeter, Moon-Bounce operator, and petting-zoo assistant.

"This blows, I don't want to do any of these jobs!" Sakura whined, and as if the heavens had answered her prayer, she heard a masculine voice yell her name above the roar of the crowd and saw someone run up to her. It was none other that her secret-from-only-him obsession: Syaoran Li, the soccer god.

"Kinomoto! You're here!" he wheezed out as he caught his breath, "I've been…looking for you…everywhere!"

"Well here I am." She said lamely, and glared at Tomoyo who desperately tried to disguise her snort of laughter as a cough.

"Good. Ok. We're having a soccer presentation for the kids, so you better get your gear on and get warmed up. We start in a little bit."

"Me? Why me?" Sakura was having a hard time listening to him and fantasizing about him at the same time. This just caused Tomoyo to "cough" a little louder.

"Er…well…I don't know if you already know this, but you are captain of the girl's team." He looked at her and smirked. She obviously wasn't a morning person.

"Oh. Ha-ha, you're right. I forgot about that." She looked to the ground and blushed madly. Tomoyo couldn't take it anymore and just burst out laughing. "Li, she would be glad to accompany you wouldn't you Sakura dear?" Tomoyo asked when she was done laughing. Sakura just nodded in shame.

"Good. Er…Kinomoto?" Syaoran asked. Sakura looked up at him. "Have you had anything to eat yet?" She shook her head in response. "Well, I haven't either. What do say we get something and I'll walk you to your locker rooms to get your stuff—it'll be my treat?" Sakura was so happy she felt she could die. "I'd really like that." She managed is her most sober voice possible. She waved goodbye to her friends and walked off with Syaoran.

Shortly after they left Chihiru was rescued by Yamazaki who was in charge of the games. Rika and Naoka were called to read to the children and Tomoyo was left at the board with 6 possible job options. "This is not my day." She sighed as she desperately tried to pick a job that wouldn't involve her being humiliated. "I wish Shiro would come and save me from this misery!" she cried dramatically.

"Sorry to disappoint you then." She turned around in surprise and found that the owner of the voice was none other than Eriol Hiiragizawa. She hadn't even noticed that he was there!

"Eriol, what are you doing here? Never mind, stupid question. Of course you would be here, this is your school. But, anyway, what are you doing here?" she rattled off a mile-a-minute.

"Well, I was going to ask you if you wanted to help out with the play, but if you'd rather stand here and wish Shiro would save you then—"

"No!" she cut him off. "I mean, no, I would be happy to help." She smiled brightly and he couldn't help but notice how weird she could be at times.

"Well come on then. Don't doddle." He said as he dragged her into the building. "And before you ask, yes, Shiro is going to be there."

Tomoyo stared dumbly at him. Shiro would be there? The one guy she wanted more than anything in the world would be there? And she didn't know about this until now?! She started to hyperventilate and froze in her tracks.

"Hey, you." called Eriol, none too kindly. "Are you sure you're fine? You seem to have dropped a few essential things."

"Like what?" she said knocked back to her senses by his voice.

"Like your brain." He smirked

"My! Aren't we witty today?" She rolled her eyes at him and couldn't help but wish him dead. She did not—not in the least—like or appreciate his comment about her intelligence. It was bad enough that she had to put up with him. As she was ranting and raving about him in her mind she remembered the night before. "Shiro…" she mouthed consumed by self-reflection.

"What about him?" unbeknownst to her, he had been paying very close attention to every move that she made.

"Remember our little deal?" she asked coyly. He didn't like when she was going with her thoughts.

"Yes, unfortunately I do."

"Well then, you probably remember how you promised to help me, right?"

"Forced to help is more like it." He muttered irritably.

"Call it whatever you want." She waved his complaint. "You still have to help me. So this is what I plan to do."

"I'm all ears." He said. Really he was. But he couldn't help but sound sarcastic.

"As you probably know, I have been trying very hard to get a certain boy to like me—"

"Shiro." He cut her off.

"Yes. And he doesn't seem to notice me…"

"Oh believe me he does." He scoffed, more to himself than to her.

"Hey! Will you let me finish!" she scowled at him.

"Sure, fine. Go ahead."

"As I was saying, said boy needs some more…motivation, so that he will notice and hopefully reciprocate my feelings for him." She finished with a sigh. Was it really her fault if she liked to wax poetry every so often?

"And what exactly is this brilliant plan to persuade said boy into wooing you going to be?" he asked, skeptical of what was—well—inevitable.

"Jealousy!" she proclaimed, with an almost evil glint in her eyes.

"Jealousy?" he echoed. "That's your great plan. You do know that instead of beating around the bush for so long you could have just as easily said 'Oh! Eriol! I need your help to make my Lover-Boy jealous so that he can finally like me!'" he feigned a high pitched voice, "Really, it would have been so much more economical."

"Mocking me is not going to get you out of this you know." She was unfazed by his comment. "So anyway, that's where you come in."

"And what exactly do I do?" he wasn't stupid. He knew what he had to do, but it was just so much fun watching her squirm and try to figure out how to phrase her request without sounding like she was coming onto him. He let out a soft chuckle and shook his head when she didn't respond. "I'm just kidding. I know, I should flirt and all that jazz, so that he gets jealous of the competition right?"

"Right." She nodded, still blushing. It sounded fine in her head but actually hearing him say it was somewhat unnerving. What the hell was she thinking—asking Eriol to flirt with her! It was bad enough that he talked to her and now she had to deal whit this. But it was all for Shiro. With that she collected her resolve and braved the awkward walk to the auditorium.

**a/n: so wanna know what happens next?**


	3. First date kind of

**an:/ hey sorry about the delay in the update. I just have a bunh of stuff that i needed to do. also...placing this story together it taking a lot more time than i figured.. haha .. go figure **

**anyway. disclaimer: dont own any of this**

Eriol glanced at Tomoyo before opening the door to the auditorium. He smirked a bit to himself when he noticed that she was nervous as hell. "You know, cleaning your nails in public isn't very ladylike." He commented offhandedly.

"Oh, shut up Eriol!" she gave him the sourest look she could muster in her current sate.

He laughed. How could he not? Here was this girl who could get anyone she wanted, and yet she had opted for silly little tricks to get a boy, who wasn't even worth it, to like her. As amusing as this was, he wanted to ring her neck for it, but she wouldn't listen to him, and it was none of his business whom she liked. He took a deep breadth and watched as she tensed up even more. "You ready?" he didn't wait for an answer.

Within seconds, the doors to the auditorium were swung open and Tomoyo's senses were barraged with the noises, smells and colors that made the place seem to take a life of its own. She felt at home in an instant and her racing heart had been somewhat sedated.

"Tomoyo!" a voice in the crowd called out to her as she began to make her way toward the group on the stage. The owner of the voice soon accompanied it and just as fast as the butterflies had left her, she felt them come back again. Before she had time to comprehend anything, she was face to face with six feet of manly perfection—in her eyes of course. Tall, with fair skin, jet black hair and shocking green eyes that he had inherited from his mother: he was her dream in human form. "Tomoyo." He said again and she felt a stupid smile creep onto her face. The harder she tried not to laugh the worse she was at it and she felt that all the giddy giggles that were welling up inside of her would soon burst forth in a sea of embarrassment. But, she was saved from this by the unexpected brush of an arm against hers. She looked up to see Eriol standing close to her—very close to her. He looked down at her and smiled the most charming smile she had ever seen. He turned away form her and addressed the person in front of her.

"Yamada." Eriol nodded in acknowledgement. Shiro nodded back, a little unsure. Now, he wasn't stupid either, he had noticed the little exchange between Tomoyo and Eriol, and he wasn't sure if he was comfortable with it or not.

"I heard that the party was pretty dull, Hiiragizawa. Loosing your touch, I see." Shiro smiled, conversationally.

"Not at all, Yamada." Eriol was just as comfortable, leaning in closer to Tomoyo. His smile grew wider when he noticed Shiro's eyes dart at her quickly and return with anger directed at him. "It wasn't my party to plan."

"It wasn't? Well, of course I would have hoped better for anything with your name attached to it." Shiro eased his stance a little and chose to address Tomoyo instead of continuing with Eriol, "I'm really glad that you made it." His face melted into a soft smile. "For a second I thought we had lost you to the Moon Bounce, or the Baking table!" he laughed and Tomoyo felt her breath catch in her throat.

"I...I'm glad too." Her usually sure, confident voice betrayed her to a stammer. Eriol was shocked to say the least. He had no idea that the damage that Shiro had caused was that bad. Luckily for him, for her and for Shiro, Tomoyo regained her composer and finished her original sentence, "If Eriol hadn't found me you probably _would_ have lost me to something a lot more mundane than a Moon Bounce."

"All in a days work Daidouji." Tomoyo snapped her attention back to Eriol—just in time to catch him winking in her direction. She was about to tell him off for using her last name when they heard a loud crash in the distance and the far off screaming that could only have been of the drama teacher Ms. Sakamoto. Eriol looked right at her and smirked and brought his hand to her cheek "…and that's my cue. Later, Beautiful." He trailed the back of his finger along her jaw line and took off in a running sprint in the direction of the crash.

Tomoyo was in shock. _Later, Beautiful_. She kept playing it over and over again in her head. What was that? He looked almost sincere! Was he being serious!? But then she remembered the conditions of her request. _She_ had asked him to flirt with her. Suddenly realizing the intended reason for the flirting, she turned back to Shiro to see what his reaction had been. And, indeed, it had been just as she had hoped.

"Did I miss something Tomoyo?" Shiro asked with a forced smile.

"Miss something? I don't understand…" she feigned ignorance.

"Well, it hasn't really been public knowledge that Hiiragizawa has picked you to be his next item of interest…" she could tell that he had picked his words very carefully. "So, did I miss something?"

"_Item of interest?_" the words tasted sour on her tongue but she laughed anyway, "No no, it's nothing like that at all. I'm sure that Eriol was only joking."

"Yeah. Sure." He didn't trust her dusting the matter off. "Anyway, you're going to be working with me today. So let's go and have some fun!"

She giggled a little, nodded and scampered off after him to do his bidding.

The rest of the day went by in a happy blur to her. True to his word, Shiro kept her busy with things that involved…well…working with him. Most of which was just talking. They had all the preparations for the play done and ready by noon. The play started at one and went on till three. They received a standing ovation, and of course the kids loved it, it had everything from magical bunnies to dramatic deaths—enough to satisfy any pallet. The end of the play hailed the commencement of the soccer demonstration, which was nothing but a friendly match between the girl's team and the boy's team. Tomoyo screamed herself dizzy as she cheered for Sakura. The girls beat the boys 13 to 9. Syaoran, as the team captain and thus team representative and spokesperson, swore on his honor that they had _let_ the girls win. "Whatever you say, Li." Was all Sakura had to say about the matter as she and her team mates went form ecstatic to the brink of insanity over their most recent victory. The carnival wrapped up by five and once everyone was off of cleaning duty, they began making plans for the weekend.

"So Sakura, you have anything planned for tomorrow?" asked Chiharu as she signed out of the class and headed toward Yamazaki who was waiting for her.

"No, Not particularly." Mused Sakura.

"Well I think you are about to have some plans." Tomoyo smiled evilly as she looked passed Sakura to two quickly approaching figures.

"What makes you say that?" Sakura said softly. "Wait; don't tell me you've made more dresses?" Sakura began to panic. She loved her cousin to death, and agreed that she was a skilled seamstress, but the torture of constantly having to play the seamstress' dummy was just too much for words. "Pease Tomoyo, tell me you haven't!"

"No." Said Tomoyo a little miffed. "I haven't. But don't look now, Li is right behind you!"

Sakura turned around so fast that he almost fell over. "Hi, Li." She smiled sheepishly.

"Hey Kinomoto. Damn, I was hoping to surprise you. I didn't think you would see me coming." He grinned.

"Yeah well, you know." She laughed. Just then she noticed that there was someone with Syaoran. "Hey Hiiragizawa! How are you? Great game by the way."

"There's no need to rub it in Kinomoto." He replied good-naturedly. "Hello Daidouji."

"Hiiragizawa. Li." She smiled at the latter.

"So anyway." Syaoran shifted uncomfortably. "Kinomoto, do you have a ride home?"

"No." Said Sakura; momentarily 'forgetting' that she had driven herself to school that morning.

"Great! I'll take you. Come on, I was just about to leave."

"Oh, sure!" She said as she tossed her keys toward Tomoyo and wished her and Eriol goodbye. A second later she was off with Syaoran.

"Aren't they cute?" smiled Tomoyo.

"He forgot that I don't have a ride home, that bastard." Eriol cursed as he stared after his so-called best friend.

Tomoyo just laughed, "Well sucks to be you Eriol." But her sentence was cut short by the noise of a car horn. She looked up to see Shiro trying to get her attention. She waved back and he drove closer.

"Hey, so some of us are going out tonight. To a club, probably. You wanna come with?" he looked skeptically from her to Eriol.

"Yeah! I would love—" but she was cut short.

"Sorry Yamada, but Miss Daidouji here has a previous engagement." It was Eriol that had answered so smugly. As he did so he stepped closer to Tomoyo, and no one could mistake the glint of anger that flashed through Shiro's eyes. Tomoyo too was outraged albeit more confused.

"Oh, you do? Well, I guess I'll see you around Tomoyo." said Shiro as he revved his engine.

"No Shiro, wait—" but he was already gone, and Tomoyo's attempt at stopping him was in vain. She clenched her fists to control her anger and spun on her heal to face the current bain to her existence. "What did you mean, 'previous engagement'?" Tomoyo glared at him. Sure she wanted him to make Shiro jealous and all, but this was just ridiculous. Wasn't the point to get Shiro to notice her—which he finally was—and not to make him think that she was _involved_ with Eriol? Just the thought sent her into a panic.

"Well, I had meant to tell you earlier, but you were having so much fun helping Shiro I just didn't have the heart." He winked at her, and smirked at her blush. If he had to guess, he'd say that she was completely new to the ways of teenage flirtation.

"Spit it out."

"Well you're mother called me and said that she has arranged a dinner for our families and that I was to take you home and then escort you to some restaurant." He said thoughtfully. "I can't remember the name though. Whatever. The limo guy knows. At least that's what she said."

"And how do I know this isn't just some elaborate prank directed at ruining my life?" she shot bitterly.

"Because, dearest," she flinched at the endearment, "it isn't a prank. I'm—for once—not lying about this."

"My mother would have called me, why would she call you?" Tomoyo felt victorious.

"She did." Her face fell at his statement. "You hung up on her and then turned your phone off. Remember? It was right when Shiro was asking if navy blue would look better on him than dark blue."

She remembered. She had turned her phone off without even checking to see who the caller was. Now she felt stupid. She was just about to retort when it dawned on her. Her mom was trying to set her up with Eriol! And as if he had read her thoughts he responded:

"See, I'm not too enthusiastic about this either. I mean, I don't like my parents meddling like this. But, can't really do anything about it now can we?" he mused. "The sooner we get this over the better. Now where did Sakura park?"

"Over there, near the—wait why do you want to know." She asked him stopping mid step to watch his retreating form.

"Well, how do you suppose we get home? I don't have a ride remember?" he had stopped as well, and turned around to look at her.

"What makes you think you can get a ride with me?" her voice had raised an octave and his eyebrow shot up in the air quizzically.

"It seemed logical. You have a car. I don't have a ride. I have to go to your house. So, thus, you could just drive us there." He frowned a little at her. She seemed jumpy and unsure. Nervous even. But Tomoyo Daidouji never got nervous for nothing. "You can drive…can't you?" he smirked a little when she began to fidget a little more. "Wait, wait, wait." He put his hands up in mock defeat. "You _can't _drive?!" with that he just burst out laughing but stopped short when she punched him in the arm and stalked off toward the car. He chuckled but ran to catch up with her nonetheless.

She unlocked the car and tossed him the keys. "You can drive. You drive." Not her most eloquent sentence, but it got the message across. She plonked herself into the passenger seat, put her seat belt on and proceeded to ignore him. He was still laughing when he put his bag onto the back seat and offered to take hers; which she refused. She just caught him shaking his head at her and before she knew it they were heading into her drive way.

"You have the strangest taste in music." She commented as they stepped into the house.

"I wasn't aware that listening to the classics were a crime." He smirked as one of the maids handed him a tux that he figured he was supposed to wear. "I guess it's a formal thing then." He said eying the tux. "Two nights in a row! This is gonna kill me." He sighed sadly and followed the maid into a room. He smiled a little when he heard her laughing in his wake. Leave it to his parents to come up with the most ridiculous attempt at making him court a girl.

He was ready before her—go figure—and so waited for her in the living room. When she finally did decide to grace the world with her presence, it almost took his breath away…_almost_. She walked in wearing the most splendid evening dress that he had ever laid his eyes on. "One of your own designs I gather?" he asked her.

"Yeah, it's kind of old though." She said pulling at imaginary threads and checking to make sure the thin straps were still in place.

"It looks exquisite. Just as you do tonight malady." He swept her an overly flourished bow and she laughed a tinkling sort of laughed that made his heart flip—just once though. "Shall we?" He walked over and offered her his hand. She took it and for a moment—just a moment—forgot all about Shiro.

**an/ so is it good. i like how i ended this. i don't know though what do you think?**

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­


	4. Whatever it takes

­­­­­­­­­­­­

**an:/ so i'm in a really creative mood all of a sudden. It took me couple tries but i finally got a good vibe for this chapter. I realize that i made Tomoyo and Eriol a little too OOC. I hope that it doesn't deter from the story too much! and i really hope you enjoy this chapter. I really liked writing it. **

**disclaimer: don't own anything. **

Dinner with their parents had gone exactly as the two had imagined it would—awkwardly. At least for the two of them. From what Tomoyo understood, her mom had an amazing time. So did the Hiiragizawa couple. They reminisced all night and made stupid jokes that often left her bewildered. She had glanced over at Eriol more than once during the course of the dinner and he looked—well, what's a word for worse than miserable? She remembered kicking him under the table so that he wouldn't fall asleep and she remembered laughing at the glare that he shot her right after. His parents were really nice to her. They allowed her to voice her opinion on certain aspects of their company. She even got them go over the recycling plan of their company. Her mother had beamed at her, and she did feel very proud and very grown up.

She might not have had the greatest time of her life, but the dinner was certainly enjoyable. All this she mused over as she tried to decide between a cotton dress or jeans and a tee. The dress won. She stepped out of her room just in time to be intercepted by a maid.

"You have a visitor ma'am."

"Now?" Curiosity was always her greatest failing. She walked into the living room only to be greeted by the last person on earth she expected to see.

"It seems that my parents are quite taken with you." He stated nonchalantly.

"Good morning to you too." She didn't smile. Why was he here so early in the morning?

"Ah, yes, good morning." He looked around. "Well at least you're dressed. Let's go. We'll catch breakfast on the way. I already told the cook, so they haven't made you anything." saying so he started to head for the door.

"Wait a minute. Where are we going?" she was still on the stairs and was currently giving him one of the most quizzical gazes he had ever received.

"To the fair." He said it as though she was supposed to know this already. When he didn't get a response out of her he went out. "Don't worry, I've already asked your mother. She seemed really happy to let me take you out today. Or maybe it was just me."

"What makes you think I'll actually go out with you?" she silently resolved to have a talk with her mother about this.

"Well, _excuse_ me for looking out for you." He didn't look hurt; he just looked like he had expected this. For some reason it unnerved her. She prided herself of being mysterious and unreadable. He smirked and went on. "I just figured that you would have nothing to do today seeing how Shiro stood you up…" he smiled as he saw her anger flare up again but he knew just what would cool her off. "…and seeing how Syaoran finally asked Kinomoto out on a date. Let's see, no Shiro, no Kinomoto equals bored Tomoyo. So, being the gentleman that I am, I thought I would keep you company today."

If he was being sarcastic she didn't catch it. "They're on a date!?" she was so excited she could hardly contain herself. "Oh, that Sakura! She didn't tell me. When did he ask her? Yesterday? Where are they going? Tell me!"

"Slow down before you give yourself a hemorrhage. The fair. He asked her to the fair."

"Brilliant! That's where we're going!" she then proceeded to run around the room looking for something. "Now I can record every minute of their date!" she proclaimed holding up her camcorder.

"Heh, I figured you'd want to do something like that." He looked on in amusement. How could something so silly send this girl into a state of near psychic breakdown? "Later perhaps." He muttered as he let himself be dragged out of the house and into his car.

"Can't you go any faster Eriol? We're gonna miss them!" she was all but jumping out of the window.

"Relax you hyper person." He scowled a little. It was cute that she was so desperate to embarrass her cousin but if it came without the headache he wouldn't have minded. "We still have to get breakfast and they're probably not gonna get there till much later."

"Then what are we driving around for?" she shot him an angry glare.

"You pulled me out of the house, idiot." She shut up with that. "Anyway. That's the place we're stopping at. So pull yourself together and act normal please."

"Ashamed to be seen with me, Hiiragizawa?" she smirked at him. She wasn't always like this. She was usually very drawn in and quiet. Very ladylike and well behaved. She was only ever like this around people she felt completely secure with. Which were her mom and Sakura—and now Eriol so it seemed. Did this mean that she liked being around him? That she felt safe and secure around him? That she could be herself when he was near and know that he wouldn't be scared away by her occasional insanity? _Yes_ she was forced to admit to herself. But she stopped herself before her thoughts carried her into very dangerous territory. _You like Shiro_ she reminded herself _Shiro. Shiro. Shiro. _

He glanced over at her when she smirked at him. Was she flirting?! No. She was probably just being retarded. He could tell that she wasn't like this around just anyone, because she caught herself and she looked away. As much as it freaked him out, he liked this weird side of Tomoyo. It was a good wake up call. He was beginning to think that she was too perfect. He laughed a little at her comment and replied. "No I just don't want your reputation to be ruined. You know jumping around with a camcorder is not a sight that people here are used to, dearest." But she hadn't heard him. Soon he was pulling into the parking lot of a diner and helping her out of the car.

The waitress greeted him. Tomoyo was surprised by this. She didn't think that diners were a place he would frequent. "The usual," he said and turned to her, but she was just taken off guard and stared at him blankly. He laughed and ordered for her. "And French toast and a coffee for her please." Her cheeks flamed bright red. _Idiot!_ The safest thing to do, she decided, was to find a place to sit. So she took off in search for a desirable booth.

"They have the best breakfast menu here." He said as he sat down. He didn't mention her flirting or her sudden change in disposition. He knew she was thankful for the change in topic.

"It seems like a nice place."

"It is. I used to come here with my dad all the time when I was little. I practically grew up here." He couldn't help but smile fondly. His smile broadened when he noticed her smile as well. "When they redecorated, they let _me_ pick out the wallpaper!"

"And look what a crap job you did." interrupted the waitress as she set down their food. Tomoyo's hand flew to her mouth to suppress a chuckle that the sight of Eriol's expression. He looked so …crushed.

"Uncalled for." Eriol began to sulk and looked forlornly at the faded ducks that adorned the walls.

"Suck it up, Rolly. Now you don't want this young lady thinking you're a wuss now, do you?"

When they left, they had a considerable mood reversal. Tomoyo couldn't stop gushing about the nice waitress and the amazing food and all the _happy_ memories she would now have from that diner. And Eriol, well Eriol just sulked. Tomoyo laughed every time she saw Eriol cringe at the mention of the diner.

"I don't even know why I go there. She always does this to me. I'm going to need mental help for my bruised ego."

"Oh, come on 'Rolly'" he flinched. She laughed. "You love her and you love that place. That's why you go back. Say what you want, I think you're proud of those hideous ducks."

"There's nothing wrong with them!" he shot back defensively. This only made her laugh even more. _Well at least she's laughing again_. He smiled.

She hadn't noticed it. He had. The unmistakably yellow glint of a Hummer that unmistakably belonged to a certain someone they both knew. It was a nonsensical color for the once military designed vehicle, in his humble opinion. It was parked a few spaces away from them. He had stopped short. No one went to the fair alone. And no one went to the fair just to hang out. It was an unwritten law that if you were a boy over 15 you were either playing chaperone or taking a girl out for a fun filled day. Never alone. Never in a group. _So this is what he blew Tomoyo off for?_ It was all he could do to control his rage. It wouldn't do him any good if he started swearing in front of her. She'd just accuse him of being silly, and she'd probably throw a deaf ear to anything that would tartan her boy-beloved's name. I was a losing battle, but one that he had every intention of fighting. Her phone rang and snapped him out of her revere.

"Hi Sakura, guess where I am!" she chirped. "Wait no…" the look on her face said it all. Sakura really wasn't as clueless as she acted, then? "Well where are you? ...Oh." Another sad look. Her spirit was dying, slowly but surely. "Thanks for ruining my day. I got extra batteries and everything! And now the two of you are gone _sailing_. Of all the ridiculous things—" long pause and maniac giggles from the other end. "Oh please! It's not even like that!" he gave her a quizzical look as she turned bright red and quickly looked away from him. Girl talk, he concluded. "I'll talk to you later, Eriol—I mean Hiiragizawa—Sakura! Stop reading into this!" he chuckled a little at her slip. They had never addressed each other by their first names openly. "Sakura, if you don't stop Syaoran is gonna see all of those videos…you know what I'm talking about. We're talking twenty hours of you embarrassing yourself caught on tape." Evil. He liked it. "Have fun. Don't kiss him! Bye!" she hung up.

"Don't kiss him?" He handed her her ticket.

"Never on a first date." She was already heading for the entrance.

"What should we start with?" he bought her cotton candy which she was currently picking at delicately. He watched, mesmerized as she licked off he last traces of the sugary treat and then proceeded to place a finger on her stained lips as she looked around at the activities that were at their disposal. Soft. She looked soft. There was no other way to describe it. Soft and delicate and innocent. She chewed on her lip and pouted in concentration. Weighing her options. The action caused her already stained lips to turn a very pleasant shade of deep pink. _Pomegranate_ he decided. The temptation was great, and it took all of his self control to keep form sampling her cotton-candy-pomegranate lips.

"The Scream Machine" her voice was the cold water he needed. "Let's go on that!"

He eyed the coaster skeptically. He had never trusted them. Especially not when they had foreboding names like 'The Scream Machine' attached to them. It was almost a guarantee that you were putting your safety on the line by riding it. "You're not scared are you?" she was so close to him, looking up at him, a small smirk playing on her features. He didn't answer her. He couldn't even if he wanted to. She scoffed and turned around. He was about to tell her not to go by herself when he felt her hand close over his own. Before he knew it, they were stepping into the first car of the Scream Machine and she was asking: "You ready?" He turned around. She looked scared, and excited all at once. She was still holding onto his hand. The realization hit him almost as fast as the air that hit his face as they made their speedy decent into swirling colors and happy shrieks. He vaguely noticed that his heart was responding not to the thrill of the ride but rather to the thrill of her touch—maybe clutch is a better word, for she was _clutching_ onto his arm for dear life. He laughed in spite of himself. When the ride was done he bought a copy of a picture of the two of them on the coaster. She vehemently refused to look at it swearing that she looked ridiculous in photographs. He stored the picture in his wallet as she went on about photographs.

"You know how they say that the camera adds ten pounds?" she was saying "Well in my case it adds about nine billion!" he chuckled at her exaggeration "And thats not all! My mom—" but she had walked into someone. "I'm so—Shiro!"

"Tomoyo?" if he was panicked he hid it well. "What are you doing here?"

"I was just…what are you doing here?" she frowned as her mind caught up with her. "I thought you were too busy to do anything today."

"I …I am" he noticed her proximity to Eriol. "I was just…my …cousin."

"Your cousin?"

"Yeah. My cousin's visiting. So I said I'd take her to the fair." He scowled at Eriol. "What is he doing here?"

"Eriol was nice enough to keep me company today. We've been having the best time." She beamed up at Eriol. "Where is she?"

"Right there." A girl hopped happily up to him and promptly linked her arm with Shiro's and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Hey Baby." She said in a coo.

"Er…Miyu, this is Tomoyo, and that is—" He didn't need to introduce Eriol.

"Hiiragizawa Eriol!" she was in awe. "I didn't know you were acquainted! Oh this is so great. Shiro and I were just about to ride the Ferris wheel, you should join us." She dragged them to it and shoved Eriol and Tomoyo into a booth and hopped into the next one with Shiro.

"Tomoyo…" he didn't like her silence. "I'm…" what could he say? I'm sorry? He hadn't done anything. Shiro's a dipshit that doesn't deserve you? True. But he didn't know if he was allowed to be saying things like that yet.

"You know." Her voice was barely above a whisper. "I always tried to think of why guys never said anything to me. I mean, Sakura got a few dozen roses and love notes every day and I never got anything. I never got anything at all." He stared at her. Shock was a mild way of putting what he was feeling at the moment. "I tried to think what it was about me that guys probably didn't like. Then I tried to think about what guys liked about Sakura. She was so cute, and bubbly, and active. I wasn't any of that. I was quiet. I suppose I was too grown up, too serious, too studious. So I decided to let loose a little and see what happened, and Shiro took notice. It was the first time in my life that a guy came up to me. Complemented me on a design, or told me that they liked the smell of my shampoo, said that I had a beautiful singing voice. He asked me out to coffee. We went to the movies together. He was always so nice and so sweet." She was on the verge of tears now. "I really like him Eriol!" she couldn't contain herself now. The tears came pouring down. He crossed the space between them and held her close. It was all he could think of to sooth her. She was hurting and he felt useless. He stroked her hair as she wet his shirt with tears that were being shed for someone who didn't even warrant them.

"He doesn't deserve you." It was the first time he had voiced this thought. It wasn't as difficult to say as he had anticipated. Jealousy tasted sweet on his tongue when it came to her. "And you don't deserve to be treated this way."

"How _do _I deserve to be treated?" he noticed a hint of sarcasm in her watery tone. Good. He was making head way.

"You deserve to be treated like a princess." Corny. She would love it.

"Real original Eriol." He felt her smirk a little into his shoulder. He could be serious now.

"You don't need to be someone else just to attract boys." He frowned. It had never been this hard for him to put words together. He felt what he wanted to say, felt it with undeniable passion. His pounding heart told him so. But his mouth just wouldn't cooperate with him. "That's not being true to yourself. You're just settling if you do—settling for someone who isn't even up to your caliber." He fumbled around again in his head. He wanted to say something wise and something brilliant. Something that would amaze her. "Why can't you see that…" he stopped. _See what?_ _See that I am a much better candidate than Sub-human over there? He didn't even notice you until you changed yourself. I did! Why can't you see that?! _He just settled for a sigh. She didn't pry into what he was trying to say to her. They heard a delighted giggle from the next booth. He looked up to see them all over each other. He felt angry bile rise up in his mouth and wanted desperately to sucker punch that smirk off of Shiro's face.

"She's not his cousin." Calm. Collected. So unlike the silly lighthearted Tomoyo of the morning. Had it really only been the same say? "Is she Eriol?" he shook his head 'no'.

"Are you giving up on him then?" he couldn't help but let a little hope seep into his tone. Her face was still buried in his shoulder. He made no attempt to move her and she made no attempt to move.

"Of course not." It was more of a decision than a statement. "She's just competition and there's nothing wrong with competing for something that you want is there?"

"What?!" he did pull her away this time. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He looked into her eyes that were ablaze with defiance. He was angry again. "And what exactly do you mean by that _Miss Daidouji_?"

"I'm saying that I'm not going to give up. I don't give up that easily." She sighed when he just stared at her in response. "Fine, I'll put it in terms that you can understand. Say that there was this girl that you liked a lot and this girl was finally noticing you and starting to like you. But then there was a boy in the way. A boy that was distracting her. Wouldn't you do all that you could to get her attention back to you? I mean if you really liked this girl and if you knew in your heart that she should be with you and that she was making a mistake by getting distracted, you wouldn't give up would you?" he didn't know if he wanted to laugh or wring her neck. "Well that's how I feel about Shiro. Miyu is just a distraction. If I persist, he'll come back to me."

_I suppose we're in the same boat then, right?_ He did laugh then. A bitter hollow laugh. He was surprised by her resolve and strength. To be hurt and then get back up and still pursue something that your heart told you was right? Commendable but foolish. "So what are you going to do?"

"Pretend like I think that she is his cousin." She began to wipe the remnants of the tears off of her face.

"I see. And then what?"

"Then, he'll just lose interest in her."

"Oh is that so?"

"And you will still help me wont you?" he was shocked by her request. Her eyes looked directly at him, unwavering. Full of passion, and determination, and …hope?

_What ever it takes, huh Tomoyo? Well then, whatever it takes to get your attention back to me._ "Of course I will." His eyes softened and hers brightened up.

"Thank you very much Eriol." This was how normal Tomoyo would have reacted. Her eyes held all of her emotion and she picked her words carefully and with purpose. She was in control of herself. This wasn't the first time he had witnessed this side of her—her real side. He realized with sudden elation that he had witnessed two real sides of her in that day, sides that she no doubt reserved for people who meant something to her. It made him feel as if he had won one over Shiro. It calmed him a bit. Their booth opened and Tomoyo pulled her mask back into place.

"That was a lot of fun! Thanks a lot for making us go on it Shiro," she beamed at him, but noticed that he was alone. "Umm…where's Miyu?"

"She had to leave. She says that she enjoyed meeting you." He seemed happy that Tomoyo was being oblivious.

"We have to leave too." Eriol put his arm around Tomoyo's shoulder and Shiro froze up.

"We do Eriol?" she looked up at him innocently. He couldn't believe what an excellent actress she was.

"Yes, Tomoyo." He smiled sadly, her eyes pleaded with him to take her back home. "I promised your mom that I would have you back by now."

She gave a giddy sort of laugh. "Oh, silly me!" she walked out of his protective embrace. "Say hi to your cousin for me, Shiro. Tell her that I hope her stay here is pleasant. She has a wonderful tour guide in you." Shiro raised an eyebrow and smiled a cheeky grin.

"Of course." Triumphant, he moved forward and placed a lingering kiss on her cheek. "Later Beautiful." He trailed his finger along her jaw much in same fashion as Eriol had the day before. "Get her home safe Hiiragizawa," he smirked and walked away.

"It worked" she smiled sadly as she stood at her front door with him. It was already dark.

"You shouldn't be pretending." He frowned in her general direction. He took her to the beach after they left the fair. They ate sandwiches, sat on drift wood and she cried till she couldn't anymore.

"It's the only way to get what I want."

"Is this really what you want?" he didn't care if his tone was too cold.

"It is." She looked right at him.

"Don't do this to yourself." Pleading. He hadn't pleaded with anyone for anything in a long time.

"Don't presume to know what is good for me and what isn't." she was still smiling, but her voice was bitter.

"I'm not presuming. I know."

"Goodnight." She paused. "Thank you for today. I really did enjoy the bit of it that was fun." She was earnest.

"I'm glad. How does ice-skating sound for tomorrow?" it was just like them to brush over things that needed immediate attention. "My parents want to meet you again." It was a lie, but he knew that they wouldn't pass up a chance to match make. And she wouldn't have an excuse if his parents were going to be there.

"It sounds like exactly what I need right now." She smiled a happy smile. "Could we maybe invite Sakura and Li?"

"I'm sure they would be more than happy to join us." He turned around to leave, but she called him back.

"Eriol, thank you. Really. For everything." She hugged him. It was all he could hope for. Butterflies weren't supposed to accompany just a hug, right? Then why was his stomach doing flip flops? He watched her leave and waited till her room light turned on. She would cry herself to sleep. He knew it. And all he wanted was to be there to hold her. But propriety had different plans for him.

He lay awake on his bed staring that the picture from that day. She held his arm in a death grip and buried her face in his arm. She was screaming and smiling at the same time. He was holding onto her hands reassuringly and was looking at her with a weird smile on his face. She looked ethereal and he looked like the fool who couldn't have her. But…

"Whatever it takes…" he tested the words and liked the purpose in them.

But…he wasn't one to give up that easily either.

"Whatever it takes."

**an:/ so what do you think? I must say a lot of this came from personal experiences. I guess that is why i like this chapter. It made me closer to the characters. That's not weird right? Haha. **

**anyway i wanted to thank all of my reviewers. It really is because of you guys that i am keeping up with this project. I have a tendency to leave things half finished. But i know where i want to take this story. **

**so tell me if you like it so far. if you have any opinions on anything. If you want more parent interference i promise that its gonna be in surplus in the next chapter. i wanted to establish their relationship a little bit in this chapter. I hope it wasn't too vague.**

**Thanks for reading. The new chapter will be uploaded shortly.**


	5. It's just pretend

**an: sorry for the horribly long wait. i got a little caught up with college and all that. i hope this ch is alright. i just put it on hold for so long that i lost my inspiration for a little bit. Anyway. my tardiness cannot be excused and i apologize for taking such a long time to update. I kinda like how this ch turned. i played with a lot of versions of the way it should play out, but whatever is in here needed to be in here. except maybe the last bit, that was just for fun. i promise the next ch will have a lot more appearances from a lot more characters. thank you for sticking around for so long! enjoy**

**disclaimer: i do not claim rights to any of the characters used.**

**Chapther 5: Its just pretend.  
**

Normal was obviously not part of his personality. Tomoyo decided on this when she found a letter—nay _parchment_—addressed to her in his writing. Inside were some choice lines, of a very morbid nature, from the most recent rehearsals of the Boys Academy's Drama club. At the very end of the note he requested her to "grace them with her presence and bequest them with her talents." She was mad at him for not taking her ice-skating last Sunday—she had to confess, she really thought he was being serious when he had suggested it— and had obstinately refused to answer any of his calls, or any of his messages that Sakura had been nice enough to bring over; but this piece of parchment was just so novel and the style so flamboyant that she couldn't help but chuckle.

"I _knew _that would get your attention." He said before she had a chance to say hello. "And I knew that you would break down and call me sooner or later."

"Don't get too cocky now; I only called because I felt sorry for you." She smiled in spite of herself. "Desperation doesn't look so good on you. But I have to admit; watching you grovel does amuse me."

"That hurts, ok?" he snorted into the other line. "Hold on, my mom's snooping around." And as if on cue she heard his mother on the other line:

"What are you doing in here with all the blinds closed!?" Tomoyo imagined a very stern looking Mrs. Hiiragizawa and chuckled lightly to herself. It didn't seem possible that Mrs. Hiiragizawa _could_ be stern.

"Nothing, Mom!" she heard him protest. "I was just on the phone. Now can you stop looking around, it's making me nervous."

"You wouldn't be nervous if you didn't have something to hide" shot back Mrs. Hiiragizawa. There was a long pause and then she heard his mother again this time she seemed a lot closer. "Who are you talking to?"

"No one!" she definitely heard fear in his voice.

"You can't be talking to no one Eriol." She sounded exasperated. "You were smiling from ear to ear when I walked in. You are either planning something you don't want me to know about or…" Another long pause. "Is it—" but she was cut off

"Mom, don't make this a big deal!"

"Tomoyo!" Mrs. Hiiragizawa's tone did a 180. "Oh that's just so precious. Tell her I say hello! Go on!"

"My mom says 'hello'." He muttered into the receiver. Tomoyo couldn't hold her laughter in any longer.

"Tomoyo dear, you must come by and visit us some time!" Tomoyo heard Mrs. Hiiragizawa over the other line. "Eriol's father and I miss you quite a bit! Don't let Eriol here keep you all to himself. He has a habit of being a little selfish with things he likes."

"Out! Now!" Eriol demanded, there was some more indistinct arguing, the slamming of the door and the sound of the receiver being picked up again. "Hey, sorry about that."

Tomoyo however had just lost her ability to speak. _…things he likes_. The words were still ringing in her ears. But he didn't like her. _Did he?_ It was just his mother being a mom. Her mom would have done the same thing had the situation been the other way around. But she still couldn't get over that little bit of information. "Heloooo?" his voice jogged her out of her revere.

"Hey ya, sorry. Commercial on TV." She tried to cover her silence.

"Sure." He brushed off her comment. "So are you gonna go or what?"

"Go where?" her heart started pounding. Had he asked her out? Had she missed it? What was she going to say? This was all happening so fast.

"To the play, dummy. We need you to design the costumes. I thought I mentioned that in the letter?" he sounded confused, amused and worried at the same time. Was that even possible?

She needed to regain her composure. She needed to get the upper hand again, or he would never let her live it down. "I don't know. I will have to be compensated for my efforts."

"Whatever you ask for shall be given to you." He paused. "Except—"

"If you are going to deny me all the chocolate that I could possibly consume, then I'm telling you right now; my answer is 'no'." She knew what he was going to say, but she didn't want him to bring it up. It was a sore topic and she didn't want to mull over sore topics when she had a confusing one to mull over. It was just too much mulling for one day.

He laughed. She laughed. They hung up. An hour, a couple frustrated knocks and a tiny but of arguing later she was sitting in his brand new car and listening to his questionable CD collection.

"Hanson? Really?" She was shocked to note that she wasn't shocked at all. Eriol seemed like the type to do things just so he could get a reaction out of people. Owning Hanson's first album, for example, and leaving it in the open for everyone to see would definitely get a reaction out of people.

"Very poignant stuff." He nodded in seriousness.

"Oh ya, definitely. The subtleties of _Mmmbop_ never fail to amaze me." She rolled her eyes at him.

"You know all the lyrics." He said flatly. She had nothing to say to this because she knew that it was true. He smirked and she scowled. Hanson was no longer a viable way to make fun of him.

"What's the play about?" she stared out the window, taking in the scenery that was rushing by.

"Life."

"Seriously."

"I'm being serious." She snorted at this which prompted him to elaborate. "Alright. It's about a guy who is given a chance to save the woman he loves but he must forsake one thing for the ability to do so."

"Pretty generic." She commented.

"He's a schizophrenic." She was interested at this. "So the guy is making up this love of his and he's about to do something terrible for something that doesn't exist. Of maybe he isn't, that's up to the viewers to decide."

"Wow. Tragedy?"

"Comedy." He turned into the parking lot.

"How can you make fun of a mental disorder! I do not want to be a part of this!" she got out of the car and slammed the door. He winced at this and ran around to see if the door was okay.

"Watch it!" he chided as he pretended to sooth the door. "Don't worry Baby, I won't let mean Tomoyo hurt you again." He cooed.

"What is it with guys and their cars?" she muttered mostly to herself but he picked up on it.

"What is it with girls and their shoes?" He began to walk toward the theater.

"Touché."

"It's not making fun of the disorder." He looked right at her as they walked and she was surprised by the sudden change in the rhythm of her heart. "I can't explain it to you. It's not going to be a public performance anyway. It's this guy's senior piece and we're helping him out. In my opinion, the storyline is not developed well enough. The characters are pretty flat, and other than the obvious plot, which isn't really the plot, there is nothing that happens: nothing to keep the audience' attention. There's not enough dialogue and the little that is there seems too forced and awkward. If the actors aren't fantastic, this project is gonna be the biggest F ever." He looked away, contemplative.

"Sounds good. Ummm, so who are the actors?" she did not know how to respond to that. She could barely follow what he had said because she was too busy tracing the contours of his face with her eyes. Speaking of eyes, his were really lovely. Blue and deep with just a little bit of gold, or maybe it was just the light. It didn't help that he was looking at her while he was talking. She had to pretend like she could pay attention to him.

"You know, you can at least pretend to pay attention." He laughed. He had read her mind. Kind of. "All the same people. Oh. And only one that you would care to know about." He winked at her.

_He's acting!?_ Like an idiot, she voiced her thoughts: "You're gonna be in it?!" unfortunately for her, she came off hopeful and not even the least bit sarcastic or teasing. There was no hope to salvage her dignity now.

"Uhh. No. Shiro is." He looked at her weirdly. "Are you ok? You seem really out of it. If you don't want to do this, it's fine. We can probably get someone else. I just suggested you because it's in your alley, and it's for a good cause."

"What's the cause?" again with the stupid comments. She really needed to learn how to sensor herself.

"You and your little lover boy." He laughed at her obvious discomfort. "Oh, come one, you didn't think I would pass up the opportunity to see you be completely ridiculous in front of that bastard did you?" his face was smiling but his eyes weren't.

"Didn't think you would." She would be lying if she said she wasn't a little disappointed at this. "Well, you'll have plenty of material to laugh at then, Sir, because I don't think I can help the way I am around him. He does something to me, you know?"

"I'm sure he does." His face wasn't smiling anymore. If he didn't know better he would think that she was trying to make _him_ jealous of Shiro. Not that she had to try or anything. He decided a long time ago that he was jealous of whatever hold Shiro had on her.

Eriol announced her presence to the rest of the group and she was greeted with relieved cheers. Apparently, none of them had any talent in the field of costume making. She was given a copy of the script and took a seat to study the rehearsals and take notes on the personalities and the body types of the characters and the actors. At least this was what she was supposed to be doing, but distraction came too easily and too soon. Eriol was apparently directing, and so she heard him every so often and saw him even more. She watched him intently as he gave out orders, suggested changes, and bestowed complements on his fellow thespians. She hadn't noticed before, but he had three different smiles: one that he was using now, one that he used when he was being flirty, and one that she had seen only once before and not for very long either. It was a stupid smile that he had when they were on the roller coaster at the fair. She knew he thought she didn't see but she had. She smiled a little as he ruffled his hair and exhaled as he heard one of the props shatter. Before she knew it, her concept sketches for the characters had turned into doodles of him in various settings and outfits.

"What you got there?"

She snapped her book shut with a gasp when she heard the very masculine voice ring in her ears. She turned toward it; red faced and completely mortified, but it was only Shiro.

"You really scared me!" she relaxed her demeanor but kept her book shut. "And aren't you supposed to be _rehearsing_ right now?"

"I'm on my break." He shrugged, smiled his little half smile and looked over at her. Normally, he would expect to see a look of adoration on her face as she hung onto every word he said. But not today. Today, he didn't get so much as even a look. He followed her eyes and grew angrier still when he realized what—or rather who—currently had her full attention. "Don't tell me you want me to leave you alone or something?"

She detected an edge in the laugh that followed his last remark. She should have said _ No, no. I don't mind you being here at all, Shiro!_ And then smiled and giggled and flirted while trying to suppress the giddy happiness that should have been welling up inside of her…but none of that happened. She just looked at him and looked away. She didn't feel like dealing with him at that very moment. She didn't really care if he was mad, because he didn't care if he hurt her feelings now did he?

Eriol noticed the little exchange. He was oddly proud of the frown that seemed to have appeared just above Tomoyo's brow. But he wasn't too happy with the look on Shiro's face. It was less than a millisecond—if you blinked you could have missed it—but Eriol saw it: a few dozen emotions washed over Shiro's face before he decided on one that he was going to use. "Daidouji!" Eriol intervened. "Get over here! I need to confer with you about something."

"We're busy!" Shiro snapped back.

"The play is more important than whatever little squabble you two are having. Finish it on your own personal time." Authorotative. "Now, Daidouji? I don't have all day, so hurry up."

She blinked up at him and followed as he moved to the back of the stage, leaving Shiro practically wreathing with fury.

She found Eriol seated at a table going over the script. So it hadn't been a lie to get her out of the awkward situation, he really did have to "confer" with her. Something in her died a little at this realization. But she smiled none the less. She had never seen him so mature or focused or serious. She liked seeing him serious. He looked especially cute when he was frustrated. She couldn't really say what, but she felt something for Eriol. She would, of course, yell at him for being bossy. But for the time being she just wanted to keep feeling what she was feeling.

"Oh you're here. Sit, please." He glanced at her for a second.

"What the hell was that about?!" she demanded in mock seriousness.

"Here it comes…" he apparently bought her little act.

"You could have asked me politely you know? I'm not one of your peons, I'm doing this as a _favor_ to you. If you are going to be rude to me, then you can just find yourself another designer because I will not stand for this. At all! I have some self pride you know." She relished the pained look that crossed his face.

"A woman scorned…" he muttered, before he smiled up at her. "Well, Miss Bitchy, are you done?"

"Not yet." She glared. Another game? Well, she would win this one. "I don't like the way you talk to the people here. If you were a little nicer maybe you would get a decent performance out of them. It's bad enough that the play sucks, but you are just making it worse." It was a little hurtful, she knew, but saying it felt good.

"Well excuse me for not following _your_ rules of conduct," he was a little more than pissed now. "but I know these people and I know what makes them work. Give me advice when you can control all the factors of your life why don't you, or would you much rather pretend that things don't happen and just ignore problems till they go away? Well I have some bad news for you; that strategy doesn't work for shit. I thought you were smarter than that, honestly."

She gave him the worst glare she could muster. He had her there. She couldn't really say anything to that. "That was a cheap shot _Hiiragizawa_." Her teeth were clenched as she sat forcefully down opposite him.

"Nothing but the best for you, _Daidouji_." His condescending tone did nothing for her mood. "And now, if you are quite done projecting your anger onto me, I really have some business to discuss with you."

"Whatever. It's not my problem if you are a total jerk." She turned her head haughtily. "But, in the name of civility, I shall humor you. What did you want to discuss."

"My idea for the costumes." He totally ignored her remarks. "I saw you scribbling so I figured that you already have some concepts down." He smiled a little at the panicked looks like crossed her face. "You don't have to show me. I know you don't like to show people your work unless it's perfect. Either way, I want the costumes to reflect the overall mood of the scene. I want the audience to be able to relate to the clothes, do you understand?"

"Like another character?" she was interested despite her irritation.

"Exactly!" His eyes shone. She decided she liked this self-satisfied, inspired Eriol better than the frustrated one. "The script is a dud, so I want to make this as visually stimulating as possible."

"Ok, sir. I will work on that." She got up to leave.

"Wait! It was getting kind of tense over there, so if you wanna hang with me that's cool. He won't bother you then" he seemed a little nervous. "Only if you want to though."

"Thanks Eriol." She beamed at him. And he beamed back. "I'd really like that."

When they got back to the main stage, Eriol pulled up a seat for her and called the end of the break. Everyone went back to their duties: Eriol ordering people about, the actors tryning desperately o play their parts well, the design department painting their newest piece of the backdrop, and Tomoyo scribbling away as per Eriol's requests.

They were, for the most part, oblivious to the silent figure sill sitting in the pews.

--

"You know, Sonomi, I think our Eriol has taken quite a liking to your Tomoyo." Mrs. Hiiragizawa fluffed her hair in the mirror.

"I do believe he has, Kimiko. Just the other day he took her to the fair, and then I received word that he had requested her help on his school's latest play!" Mrs. Daidouji held up a dress against herself. "What do you think of this one?"

"Maybe in a different color." Mrs. Hiiragizawa scrunched up her nose. "It washes you out too much. And what do you supposed of Tomoyo's feelings?"

"Excuse me, do you have this in a deeper color maybe?" Mrs. Daidouji hailed a sales representative. "I am not quite certain. I never really know with her, I am ashamed to admit. She is serious and quiet and very mature most of the time, but then she is silly and nervous and clumsy as well. She is still something of an enigma to me."

"Well, at least we know she doesn't completely dislike him."

"That is true." Mrs. Daidouji took the new dress from the associate. "I think she might just be a lot more like me than I thought."

"Oh, that looks beautiful! Try it on!" They headed to the fitting rooms.

"She might just not know what she wants just yet."

"How do you mean?"

"I remember when I met my husband; it took a whole year before I realized that I was in love with him. Too practical, too preoccupied: that's what my mother used to say to me." She stepped out and modeled the dress while Kimiko clapped in appreciation. "If I am not mistaken, she probably doesn't even know that she likes him. She probably guessed that he likes her though. She is intuitive, but not when it concerns herself. So unless he doesn't give up on her, I am afraid she will probably never come to terms with her emotions."

"So we just need to nudge her in the right direction then?" Mrs. Hiiragizawa handed the dress to the attendant. "She'll take that, thank you. And could you bill these on my name please?"

"What did you get?"

"Just a scarf." They paid and headed out of the store. "Their temperaments are quite similar. And they seem to understand each other quite well. Eriol does seem a lot more active after having met her."

"It would be a shame if nothing grew out of this." They smiled at each other. "Lunch?"

"Why, yes!" laughed Mrs. Hiiragizawa. "I was just about to suggest that."

**an: comments/questions/concerns/criticism. you know the drill. :]**

**thank you, again, to all my readers! you guys keep me writing.  
**


	6. Communication

**A/n so im bored in the library and I'm supposed to be studying for my genetics final, but i felt like finishing this instead. the chapter not the story. ahaha. Its a lot darker than the rest, i suppose, cuz it deals with a lot of emotions and both sides have and the common misunderstandings in relationships. I read a comment about how tomoyo is a little ooc, thats because she is heavily influenced by a real life character. this person is like tomoyo in every way, but she has another side to her that very few see so i wanted to explore the not so perfect side of the perfect tomoyo. It makes her feel more human to me. I'm sorry if that ruins the experience for you. i'll try to tone down the ooc-ness in later chapters. **

**enjoy :]**

**disclaimer: i do not claim rights to any of the characters used in this story.**

**Chapter 6: Communication  
**

"So how are things going with the soccer stud?" Tomoyo winked over to her cousin as she stirred her late. They had decided to go on a little coffee date and get caught up with each other's lives.

"I don't see you in nearly three weeks, and that's the first thing you ask me?" Sakura's green eyes shone with mirth. "It's so good to see you again Momo. I've really missed you!"

"Firstly, don't ever call me 'Momo' again; it makes me sound like a monkey or something. And I just saw you yesterday!" Tomoyo rolled her eyes as Sakura gave into a wave of giggles.

"I like 'Momo'. It's such a cute name" She pouted and then laughed again. "But the soccer stud is _great_. He's so sweet and romantic and the perfect gentleman."

"Aww, don't make me gag." Tomoyo was honestly happy for her friend

"Well you will be happy to note that he is pretty big on school work, so he makes me study too. And he is a genius at math, which works out perfectly for me seeing how it's my worst subject."

"Isn't that just precious!"

"Stop teasing!"

"I'm really not!" she laughed despite herself and soon they were both laughing. "I'm glad he's taking care of my favorite person, because if he didn't I would be forced knock him out!" this only caused the two to laugh even more.

"I really like him Momo. He's so perfect. I have no other word to describe him! Its times like this I wish I read more, so I would have more words to use." Tomoyo couldn't help but smile warmly at her cousin who continued to gush about her beau. "…I think it's just something about the soccer guys in general actually. They are all so…chivalrous. You should really find yourself one as well. Oh, wait, you already have!" she smiled menacingly as Tomoyo who had all but choked on her coffee.

"I don't know what you mean by that." Tomoyo turned her head away.

"Oh, please. The two of you are always together these days it seems. I can never hang out with you because you are always too busy helping Hiiragizawa, or Hiiragizawa and you already made plans or something else regarding him." She smirked at the obviously uncomfortable Tomoyo. "You know both Saroyan and I are really lonely without our best friends."

"Sakura! No! It's not like that at all!" Tomoyo tried desperately to hide her blush. "He's just helping me make Shiro jealous!" for some reason, Tomoyo no longer believed that this was in fact why she had started hanging out with Eriol. The very mention of their scheme tarnished what she had come to think of as a beautiful friendship.

"You're still hung up on that guy?! I thought you would be over him by now." Sakura had never really understood what Tomoyo had seen in Shiro, other than the fact that he was handsome.

"Yes I am still 'hung up' on him." Again, she did not believe the words that had formed on her tongue. "He just needs some persuasion. And Eriol has agreed to pretend to be interested in me so that Shiro will think he has competition" the plan sounded so stupid, now that she thought about it. "So far it's been working. He really thinks that Eriol is into me, and he's been trying a lot harder to get my attention."

"But Tomoyo, I have to tell you." Sakura's face was serious, "I've heard some stuff about him."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Stuff that I don't want you involved in."

"Like what?"

"Like, he's a manipulator. And he's a really big flirt...and he sleeps around a lot!"

"Sakura!"

"I'm not making this up! He's bad news. Or so I've heard."

"Well I hope that you don't leave rumors to be you're only sourse of information." she smiled

"I don't know, he seems like the kind that would have a bunch of floozies. I imagine him with a tone of rings and gold chains. A black suite and slicked back hair. Maybe a cat."

"Sakura!" Tomoyo laughed "You're making him sound like he's a gang lord or something."

"I really don't know how you can be so blasé about this." Sakura pouted but broke into a smile and focused on something just above Tomoyo's shoulder.

Tomoyo didn't need to turn around to see who it was, the look on her cousins face was more than enough.

"Hey Baby" Syaoran planted a soft kiss on Sakura's lips and all Tomoyo could do was smile at the two of them. They were both blushing bright red and grinning from ear to ear, and Tomoyo immediately regretted not having her camera with her."Hey, Daidouji." He looked up at her and smiled as he took a seat next to Sakura and laced his fingers with hers.

_I would be completely in love with him if I didn't think he was so perfect for Sakura._ "Hello Li. Long time. Have you been taking care of my cousin? Because if you haven't I will have to set the entire Tomeda police on you." Sakura rolled her eyes at this. Leave it to Tomoyo to threaten her boyfriend with a jail sentence. And the really ridiculous part was that Tomoyo never made empty threats.

"Of course ma'am. I wouldn't even dream of crossing you." He saluted her and laughed "And have you been taking care of my best friend? You two seem to be spending a lot of time together." He waggled his eyebrows at her suggestively while Sakura burst out in peals of laughter. "Though I must admit, with him not around to constantly make fun of me my self esteem is making a comeback. So I think I should thank you."

"Hiiragizawa makes fun of you?" Sakura looked at him and furrowed her eyebrows.

"All the time. I think he thinks its amusing. Only to him though. I can't believe I still talk to him actually. He's pretty annoying after you've been around him for over five hours. I really don't know how you still have your sanity Daidouji." Syaoran smirked in her direction.

Tomoyo on the other hand was less than amused. "I don't understand why you think there is anything at all that is going on between the two of us. We're just friends." She glared at the two of them and haughtily took a sip of her coffee. "Besides, I like Shiro."

Syaoran chocked a little on his drink at that statement. "Shiro!" he all but yelled. "Theater punk Shiro?! I don't believe it."

"Why is that so hard to believe?" Tomoyo could feel her irritation rising.

"Because." His state of mind could be described in one word: shock. "He's scum. I didn't think you were into that sorta thing Daidouji." His frown was hardly friendly, and his tone nothing like the casual one he had two seconds ago.

"Excuse me." She glanced at Sakura and continued when it was clear that her cousin was not going to come to her aid, "He is not scum. I have no idea what has gotten into the two of you." Betrayal was the current word floating through her mind. "Especially you Sakura, since when did you go around accusing people of things?" but she was in no mood to fight. "Bad for me or not, I like him. End of story. Can we drop this topic now please? I don't want to fight."

The afternoon ended with Tomoyo face down on her pillows contemplating her fate. _I can't believe the nerve of that girl! To judge me so openly about something that she knows I don't like to talk about. And that Syaoran, what a horrible prick! He seemed so nice and kind and then he turns around and goes all jerk. _Of course she didn't feel all that good about badmouthing her friends…even in the privacy of her own thoughts. But she rationalized that if she had told Sakura that Syaoran was a two faced son of a bitch; Sakura would have reacted the same way. This was Shiro after all—her one and only. She was determined to have him. She even enlisted the help of someone she could barely tolerate for it. Wasn't that proof enough of her love? As for the sudden feelings she had been having for the 'help'—she had read a charming little passage on displacing emotions in her Psychology reader and was convinced that she had in fact just displaced some emotion onto Hiiragizawa because she had been spending so much of time with him.

"I can't believe I even considered…" but she caught herself. To say it out loud would be to confirm the existence of the emotions and she wanted them to disappear, not be pulled into reality.

"Tomoyo!" the sound of her mother's voice jogged her out of her trance. "Come on honey, we are going to be terribly late!"

"Late for what?" she almost forgot that she had been in the middle of picking out a proper outfit.

"For the play." Her mother huffed and left the room. Tomoyo could feel the panic creeping along her spine and planting its roots firmly in her gut. Butterflies. Everyone would be there.

_ _ _ _ _ _

He found her hiding behind a curtain staring anxiously out at a crowd. He didn't think her the type to bite her fingernails. _A new day, a new thing learned about Daidouji I suppose._ He watched as her eyes darted back and forth, no doubt unconsciously counting the number of patrons. He watched intently as she wound and unwound a curl of her hair around a single finger. He remembered wanting to feel her hair once, and he had never felt that urge more strongly than he did at that exact moment. She tapped the top of her foot against the floor almost furiously. He could tell that her breath was coming in shallow gasps and that her heart was probably pounding blood into her ears defining her to any outside noise. He was astonished. He couldn't believe that she would be so careless with her image. Besides it wasn't like she had never designed for a play before. But, then again, it would be the first time that her services were requested, and it would also be the first time that she was solely responsible for all the costumes. It was a big night for her as well. He couldn't believe it possible that she was the very embodiment of everything he thought was perfect. She was perfect even in her imperfections. And that's what scared him most of all. What would she even want with him? He didn't have anything to give the girl who already had everything.

She spun around just in time to watch him walk away. She could feel that he was nearby but she was too nervous to turn around. And good lord, had he seen her biting her nails a minute ago? What would he think of her now? He would most certainly never let her live it down. She started at his retreating form in fascination. He seemed so calm and collected. Why? _So that everyone else stays calm as well._ He was, after all, in charge of the play. If the leader started to get worried, it would no doubt cause a chain reaction that would trickle its way through to the very last light technician and you most certainly can't have and incapacitated crew let alone an incapacitated cast. She heard the speech he had given a few minutes before and it really inspired her. More than feeling embarrassed about her designs, she realized with some surprise, she was afraid of letting him down. He was just so enigmatic, and funny, and caring, and sweet and romantic, and brilliant-- he was really a fantastic _person_;all his good looks aside. He was someone she admired no matter how much she said otherwise. And she was beginning to rely on him more and more every day. Now she was nervous all over again, and she had no idea why. Her heart was pounding and she felt sick to her stomach but this time all she wanted to do was smile. She really…_I really what?_

And as if by fate, her view of him was suddenly obscured by a breath taking pair of emerald eyes. "It's almost show time, Beautiful."

It didn't sound the same from his lips but she smiled none the less. _He's so close._ "You'll be great! I'm sure you'll get a standing ovation by the end of it." She smiled the most charming smile she could muster and was about to turn around when he caught her hand and pulled her toward him. She could hear someone in the distance call out the one minute warning till the curtain call. "Shiro…" but that was all she could say. It was her first time, and it was over before she knew it started.

"For good luck" he winked at her and disappeared backstage.

She didn't know she was smiling, she didn't know she had her fingers on her lips, she didn't know she had a tell-tale blush all across her cheeks and neck, but she did know that Eriol had just seen what had happened between her and Shiro. _It was so romantic! I have no reason to feel guilty. So what if Eriol saw, it's a free country and it wasn't anything scandalous. _She frowned in his direction and turned away but she couldn't help feeling like she had made a horrible mistake.

­_ ­_ _ _ _ _

The play had been a complete success. The costumes received a lot of praise and the patrons had nothing but good things to say to the two teens in charge.

"You must be so proud to have such a talent under your roof." Gushed the drama coordinator to the Hiiragizawas, "This young man has the ability to do whatever he sets his mind to. I wouldn't be surprised if he surpasses you someday, Mr. Hiiragizawa."

"That will be the happiest day of my life, Sir." Takashi beamed at his wife who could barely contain her own joy.

"Not bad, Hiiragizawa." Eriol received a friendly clap on his back, "I didn't think you would pull it off but you did. Would you like to say anything for the school newspaper?"

"Of course, Yamazaki." Eriol began with a flourish. "It took a lot of hard work and sleepless nights on my part. Of course I have complete admiration for my cast and crew who did a phenomenal job. The costumes as well, they were better than I could have imagened, so a special thanks to Miss Daidouji for helping us out. And I really enjoyed making this play, and I am really glad that everyone liked it." He stopped and thought for a while, "You know there is an interesting story behind the candle what was used in act five."

"Ah, yes." Yamazaki put his pen down. "It was made out of ear wax was it not?" Sakura picked up on this comment and turned around, along with a number of other surprised onlookers. Eriol and Yamazaki weren't exactly being very discrete with their conversation. Syaoran looked at the two and realized what was about to happen. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. The last time he had tried to stop Eriol and Yamazaki, they gave a very detailed description of a private matter that he did not want to revisit.

"It was actually." Eriol tugged at his coat with pride, "And it was made from the wax of all the participants of the play, so it holds extra value." He smirked to see that a lot of people were paying attention to him now. "At the beginning of every practice I had every one hand me a jar in which they were supposed to collect their ear wax from the previous night, and I took it home to craft the candle."

"I have heard of this art." Yamazaki's face never faltered. "You use equal parts water and earwax in a solution and let it simmer on a burner for exactly twenty hours and twelve seconds. And then you pour it into a mould and coat it with sea weed."

"Precisely." Eriol took over. "And then I added my own little tidbit to the recipe. I put in a dash of cinnamon."

"Ah, so that's how you solved the problem of the smell. Fascinating." Yamazaki scribbled away diligently.

"Hey, Tomoyo" Sakura looked at her cousin quizzically, "Did Eriol make you give him you're earwax as well?" All Syaoran could do was stare at her in shock.

Tomoyo almost snorted but found her composure quite quickly. "No, Sakura dearest." She began, louder than necessary. "The recipe doesn't work as well with girl earwax. It's something in the Y chromosome that is found only in boys, that has the proper ingredients necessary to make the candle stay."

"Oh, I see." Sakura smiled nervously at Tomoyo's expression.

"Enough!" this time it was Chiharu who broke the conversation. "I have had enough of this nonsense. I have no idea why they let you be a reporter, Yamazaki. You probably make up half the stuff you 'report' on." She snatched his notepad away from him and frowned as she read the notes he had taken. "No one said anything about toadstools!"

"I must have forgotten to mention that! That's the other pivotal ingredient" Eriol slapped his forehead to simulate his absentmindedness. "Good catch!"

"Thanks!" Yamazaki smiled.

"You too Hiiragizawa!" Chiharu was less than impressed. "Don't listen to them everyone. They do this all the time. I saw the prop guys buy that candle from the store across the street the other day. They're both lying." She glared at Yamazaki who smiled comically at her.

While everyone was laughing at their antics Tomoyo went up to Eriol. "I'm glad to see he hasn't fully converted you to the dark side." He looked was uncomfortable saying it. And she felt uncomfortable hearing it. "I guess you don't need my help anymore."

"Maybe." She smiled up at him. "But I really like spending time with you." She was searching his eyes. She didn't really know for what, but she knew that she hadn't found it—whatever she was looking for.

"That's good." He relaxed a little. "Because I would have just stalked you and forced you to hang out with me if you said no."

"I'd like to see you try that." She glanced at her body guards flanking her mother who was talking animatedly to his parents. "I wouldn't mess with them if I were you." He smiled at this, but grew serious.

"This doesn't mean that I approve of this at all." he regretted saying it the moment it left his lips.

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way."

"I'm not." He smiled. He looked at her and all he could think about was how she had unknowingly broken his heart. He didn't understand why he still felt so happy that she was near him, when all he wanted to do was unleash his anger on her. But he couldn't how could she have possibly known. He never told her, he never hinted at her. And it was their agreement from the start. He knew that this would happen but he had hoped she would have a change of heart before it did. "Congratulation though Daidouji. Everyone loved the costumes."

"Thank you, Hiiragizawa." She couldn't tell when it happened, but she felt oddly distant from him. Like a door had slammed in her face. And she didn't know if she was happy about it or not. All the nervous emotions came rushing back to her. She felt a lump in her throat and she couldn't breathe. Her vision was fogging up and she had to keep herself from sniffling out loud. "I heard a lot of praise for you as well."

Never in his life had his last name sounded to wrong to him. She was being so cruel! It hurt him in every fiber of his body to know that she had pulled herself away. "Thank you again, for helping us out." He didn't want to be polite to her.

"The pleasure was all mine." She had never sounded that fake in her life. "Please let me know if you ever need any more help. I will be more than happy to lend a hand." She couldn't have sounded more forced if she tried.

They had fallen into a silence that neither knew how to quill. The shock reverberated through them as they walked away from each other: there was nothing left to say.

"Tomoyo, what's wrong?" Sakura was not very bright, but when it came to Tomoyo, she could read her mind in an instant.

"I'm not sure of what just happened, Sakura." Tomoyo caught herself before the tears could spill down her face.

Sakura knew that now was not the time for lectures. She put a protective arm around her cousin and walked her out to her car. They drove down to Tomoyo's favorite spot on the peer. Sakura picked a bench and they sat in silence.

Tomoyo looked down at her toes quietly. Her shoes felt alien against her feet and her clothes felt suffocating. She felt like she was about to burst outof herself. She kept replaying the events that had passed only a few moments ago. It was aweful. _Why had he used that tone? I was just trying to be funny and make him laugh and he got all upset. If he's mad about Shiro he shouldnt be because it's none of this business. I didn't do anything wrong to him, so why is he being so weird around me now!? _She couldn't make sense of why she felt so crushed and tossed aside. The air pinched her cheeks red and made her nose run. She looked over at Sakura and smiled. "I'm sorry for being so mean to you and Li today. I know that you guys were just trying to look out for me. I appreciate your concern. It really means a lot."

"I should apologize as well. I had no right to say what I did about Shiro. You seem to really like him, and I'm really happy that you found someone." She thought for a moment. "And Syaoran apologizes as well."

"Why doesn't he just apologize to me" Tomoyo was more amused than annoyed. For some reason she knew that Sakura's answer to her question would make her laugh.

"He's really scared of you for some reason."

They both laughed uncontrollably. Tomoyo had to hold onto her seat to keep herself from falling over and Sakura was a couple more laughs away from throwing abandon in the wind and rolling on the peer, no matter how gross it was. She could always trust Sakura to cheer her up. "Shiro kissed me today." Sakura stopped abruptly. "And Eriol saw."

"How do you feel about that?"

"I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders and looked away from her cousin's gaze. "I'm not as happy as I thought I would be. To be honest I don't really remember what it felt like, so I can't tell you if he was good or not. All I can remember is that I was looking at Eriol before when he was walking away and after Shiro left Eriol was looking right at me."

"Did you guys talk about it?" Sakura took a sip of her hot chocolate.

"Not really."Tomoyo sniffed at this. "But I think he's mad. Sakura, I think I messed things up really bad."

­_ _ _ _ _ _

"It wasn't her fault." Eriol was trying to rationalize as he kicked the ball toward the net. "But, still you know?"

"So you do like her then?" Syaoran stole it and ran down to the other goal. They were both in Syaoran's backyard, and had already broken about five potted plants. Syaoran sent the ball flying, and smashed a sixth pot. "You know, I think that a new record for us." He regarded the shattered clay with mild concern.

"You think she'll make us clean?" Eriol walked over and stood next to his friend and gestured to Syaoran's parent's window

Syaoran looked uo aprehensively. "Probably." They went back to playing. "Anyway, you were saying."

"I do like her. I like her a lot actually. I just don't think she will ever feel the same way for me." Eriol sighed mournfully, and Syaoran laughed openly at this. "Shut the hell up! There is nothing funny about that."

"I'm sorry. But man, you're weak!"

"Says the guy who almost cried when a certain someone said she would go out with him." Eriol shot back and Syaoran glared at him menacingly. "Oh, Sakura! You're so beautiful" Eriol recited in a high pitched voice, "You're laugh is like bells."

"Where did you hear that?" Syaoran's eyes narrowed even more as he advanced toward Eriol.

"...I could melt in your eyes!" Eriol finished and laughed at the steaming Syaoran. "You should really be careful where you hide your private poetry. May I tell you, though, that your 'poetry' absolutely sucks!"

That was it. Syaoran tackled Eriol to the floor in a angry roar and wrestled his hands painfully behind his back. "Don't go through my stuff you piece of shit!"

Eriol spun them up and punched Syaoran hard in the gut. "Don't give me that crap. You were asking for it and you know it!" Eriol spat back and braced himself as Syaoran stood up with a fist aimed right at Eriol's jaw.

"Put your hand down this instant!" they stopped dead in their tracks and spun around to see Syaoran's mother. "You two are behaving like children! And look at yourselves! Covered in filth." They glanced at each other and smiled. They had a flashback to the day they met, when they beat each other up over who got to rule the sand box. "Go upstairs and clean up right now! And look at my beautiful flowers!" she gave a sigh of defeat that turned into a squeak of surprise when both boys hugged her. "Get off me now! I'm not forgiving you just because you hug me." They laughed

"It was worth a try." Eriol shrugged

"Do we have to clean in the morning?" Syaoran dusted sand out of his hair.

"Yes. And no breakfast till you do." She walked away to both of them whining and grumbling behind her.

"I'm really sorry bro." Syaoran put a reassuring arm on his friend's shoulder and motioned to a cut that Eriol had sustained on his temple. "About that and about her."

"Don't be." Eriol wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "I haven't given up on her yet."

**a/n i sincerely hope you liked it. Please review, it really helps me a lot. and i hope this will help me concentrate on genetics now. ahhaha. thanks again to all my readers. you hous rock!**


	7. Square one and a half

**a/n: sorry I've been away for a while. this was a particularly difficult chapter to write just because i didn't want to overdo it too much. but i think i might have. i am expecting a lot of constructive criticism for this one, but it will make sense with the next installment (which should be done in the next 2-4 weeks cuz i'm finally gonna be on spring break!... actually it might take longer.. i just realized that i'll be on spring break. ) **

**Anyway i hope this doesnt disappoint too much.**

**Disclaimer: dont own anything**

**CH7: Square One 1/2  
**

"You know, boyfriends are really horrible during exams." Sakura was speaking mostly to herself. She noticed the quizzical look that her cousin gave her as the rounded the corner to the school parking lot. "He wants to go to some concert or something tonight. And I feel really horrible because I've been blowing him off for the past couple days to study." Sakura chewed on her lip as she tried to find a parking spot. "I really want to go, but I have my Chem midterm tomorrow, and I know it's going to be a total killer. What do you think?"

Tomoyo hadn't realized that Sakura had required input from her so was only half listening to the monolog. "Go if you want to. It'll be a good break. You've been studying like mad for the past couple weeks anyway." She shrugged her shoulders delicately. Somehow, she didn't see the urgency of Sakura's 'problem'. She hopped out of the car and started to make her way toward the school gates.

"I guess. I have studied a lot. And it's not like I have to pay for the tickets or anything. He's got really god seats too. Third row! And it's one of his favorite bands: Liquid Courage. I know he's been wanting to see them for a really long time." She picked up her things and jogged a little to catch up to Tomoyo. "But it's his fault I'm studying so much anyway."

"What?" Tomoyo all but snorted at this.

"Well, his grades are so good, and I feel really dumb compared to him." She was frowning: a rarity for the usually happy-go-lucky girl. "But the bastard doesn't even study that hard! It just comes naturally to him! And I work my ass of, and still barely manage C's." her eyes shone with competitive rage. Her newly acquired curse words were courtesy of the boys' soccer team whom she had been seeing a lot of lately.

"I see your dilemma." Tomoyo smiled. "Why don't you just ask him to help you out tonight? Turn it into a study date. There will be other concerts you know? And worst comes to worst, I'll ask my mom if she can find you guys some tickets. Don't be so hard on yourself. I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that all he wants to do is to hang out with you anyway, so it won't matter where you go or what you do as long as the two of you are together."

"Ha! As if!" Sakura scoffed. Another rarity. "If I ask him to help me out, he'd just brag about how amazing he is and let it all go straight to his head. Plus, I can do this on my own. I don't want to give him credit for something I worked so hard on."

"When did you get so proud?" Tomoyo laughed at her cousin's questionable logic. Sakura's world just seemed so simple. "Just ask him silly. It's a win-win situation. All you have to do is deal with an inflated ego for a couple of hours."

"I guess so." She relented, but the sour look stayed on her face till lunch when she approached Syaoran.

Tomoyo watched from her spot at a picnic table as Sakura practically ordered Syaoran to tutor her. She didn't hear very much of the conversation but she could pretty much fill in the blanks:

_Sakura: You are going to help me with my Chem work today, and I'm not taking no for an answer._

_Syaoran: I thought we were going to the Liquid Courage concert today! Sakura! I was really looking forward to it! I have amazing seats!_

_Sakura: Well, I have a very important midterm tomorrow, and if you want to hang out with me, then you can help me out. Or you can just go to the concert by yourself._

_Syaoran: An ultimatum? Seriously?! Sakura, you're being ridiculous. Why are you being such a bitch anyway?_

_Sakura: It's your fault. If you didn't get such good grades without studying, then we would be going to this concert. _

_He would laugh hysterically at this, and hold her face in his hands. "That's what this is about?" He would pull her into a hug and bury his face in the nape of her neck. "I'll help you out then. Liquid Courage will always have another tour and I know about four people who are willing to pay anything for those tickets. Honestly, I just wanted to spend some quality time with you."_

_Sakura: Why are you so damn perfect? _

Tomoyo saw Sakura beaming up at Syaoran. A second later the two were in a lip lock and she smiled. Ok, so maybe she embellished a little on her made up scenario, but Syaoran was a really sweet guy and he really cared about Sakura, so it was with a little stretch of the imagination that she guessed (quite accurately, if Sakura's obvious joy was anything to go by) that he was willing to stay in and tutor her for her midterm. Now that was a good boyfriend. She had to remember to ask her mother about some Liquid Courage tickets—VIP perhaps with back stage passes—just as a reward for taking such good care of her cousin. He definitely deserved them if he was willing to give up that much for her.

"Did the sandwich say something nice to you, or do you just smile like that as a rule?" Tomoyo snapped out of her revere and glared up at the owner of the voice that had invaded her very happy little daydream.

"Yes, actually. The sandwich paid me a rather pretty complement just now." She frowned and took a bite of her sandwich as she studied her companion. She rather liked his outfit that day, and was making quick mental notes about the colors and patterns that he had chosen to match.

"And what could this sandwich have said to make you grin so stupidly?" she could tell that he was really trying to keep the humor out of his voice.

"I was not smiling stupidly!" why was she always so defensive around him?

"I would beg to differ actually. You looked like a love sick little school girl. Granted you _are_ most of the above." he smiled as she almost huffed about his little jab at her stature.

"There is no need to be so rude Hiiragizawa." She was all but fuming at this point.

"Back to last names is it? Well, my dearest Daidouji, since you have nothing better to defend yourself with, I'll go ahead and take your lack of rebuttal as a forfeit on your part, and claim victory." It had certainly been a while since he had seen her really pissed off.

"Hiiragizawa. This is completely uncalled for." she was scrambling to pick up the pieces of her shattered dignity. "I haven't seen you in weeks and this is how you say hi?" she was smiling, a little, despite herself.

"So you missed me then?" he had long since sat down at the table across from her. Now he leaned forward ever so slightly only to pull away and laugh at her loss for words. "It's alright. I've missed you too."

"Well. I have been avoiding you." She admitted ashamedly.

"Why?"

"Because of what happened. Between me and Shiro I mean." She blinked and focused on a tree in the distance. "I didn't really know what you would think of it. You gave me a pretty dirty look you know?" her head dropped and she focused on her fingers. "And then after the play, something was off, and I didn't really know what. It didn't feel the same though. I feel like I did something horrible, only I didn't. But I can't really help it. And I want to fix it. I just…I was just scared…of you… and what you would say." She looked up at him and was met with his amused stare. "What?" she frowned again.

"Nothing!" he held his hands up defensively. "I was just wondering" he reached over and took a slice of the apple she was planning on eating "why my opinion would matter to you so much?"

"Because," She shrugged and swatted his hand away as he tried to get a second slice "I respect your opinion. I don't know. But I suppose that you have become important to me." She nodded at his mock surprise, "Shocking I know."

"Well, I don't think any less of you just because you kissed the guy." he stole another apple slice and earned another glare. She rolled her eyes at him but was still relieved that he did not hate her.

And they were back to being friends. They were soon joined by Sakura and Syaoran who were both smiling ever so sickeningly and cooing little things into each other's ears. Tomoyo made a gagging gesture and Eriol pretended to shoot himself in the head. The four friends shared a fairly pleasant lunch, with only a few outbursts courtesy of Eriol. They parted ways for the remainder of the school day.

---

That evening, as she sat silently in Shiro's car she couldn't help but compare it to her the last experience she had sitting in a car that belonged to the opposite sex. _It smells weird_ she decided and wrinkled her nose. It wasn't a bad smell, it wasn't unpleasant. It had a heavy musky cologne-ie new car-ish sensation to it. Some would even say they liked it. Her standards had been set however, unfortunately for her date. She liked the faint smell of old books and car wax that seemed to linger on _his _car. She liked that he wasn't afraid to display his somewhat questionable taste in music. She liked that he had a picture of himself and his parents from his younger days in his glove compartment. He hadn't said anything to her when she went through his things and had found the picture. _I keep it there so that girls will coo over it and tell me how cute I look_ he had said to her, and she smiled at the memory. She called him a nerd for having a dogged eared, beaten up copy of Stephen Hawking's _A Brief History of Time_ which she immediately regretted because he went off on an incredibly detailed description of his own theory on worm holes. She liked that he was a little nerdy. Shiro, on the other hand, had nothing incriminating in his car much to her elation and disappointment. His CD collection was impeccably masculine, and he had a sports bag on the back seat. On his rearview mirror hung a medal he had gotten from some sporting event or the other. He was obviously proud of himself for it. He had a couple cheeseburger wrappers haphazardly stashed in the consol. _Trying to hide them from me, no doubt._ It didn't really matter because she had seen them anyway. Overall the whole aesthetic of the car was boring. _Why am I even comparing him to Eriol anyway? It's not like I have feelings for Eriol or anything._ She looked ahead in shock till she decided that it was because Eriol was a god friend and a really nice guy so it was only natural that she would compare the two: it was a natural human reaction to compare something unknown to something that one was more comfortable or familiar with—a heuristic.

He was taking her to some fancy restaurant. She supposed it was because he assumed that she was accustomed to finer things. How unoriginal. He did look very polished and smart in his suit; she admitted grudgingly. All the arrogance in the world could not diminish his physical appeal. She glanced over at him as he drove into the valet. Her heart caught in her throat—he was certainly a heavenly thing to behold.

She stepped lightly out as the valet opened the door for her. Shiro was at her side in an instant, grinning at everyone but her. He had a really beautiful smile. His teeth were perfect, his lips tugged his mouth into a very pleasing shape; it was boyish and mature all at the same time. She felt her stomach lurch at the sight of that smile. All he had to do now was turn his pretty blues onto her, and she would be a goner. "Ready, Beautiful?" she was definitely a goner.

He had managed to procure them a table with the most beautiful view of the gardens. She glanced around at her surroundings. She found herself in a sea of crystal and silk, where, everything glowed amber and gold. The air as pungent with the delicious smell of roses and champagne, lights hung like a million jewels from willow branches and music floated though the air lulling her senses into a state of girlish bliss. It was beyond perfect. She looked at him as he stepped behind her and pulled her chair out for her. He sat down across from her and she couldn't help but notice how the candle light played sensuously on his perfect features. They ate in relative silence which was broken only with the occasional comment from him, and a weak smile form her. She didn't really trust herself to speak. She felt all semblance of coherent thought leave her the minute she stepped out of his car and into this fantasy world. "I didn't think I would make you so nervous." She didn't realize that they were already heading back home.

"What makes you think I'm nervous?" she tried not to twist the napkin in her lap, or chew on her lip.

"It's pretty obvious." He gave her a smug look that she missed. He turned his attention back to the road. This time she didn't miss the self-satisfied look that he was currently sporting. "Did you have a good time?"

"Yes. I did actually." she had to stop herself from gushing. "Everything was so beautiful!" she looked thoughtfully ahead. "Sorry I wasn't better company."

He laughed at that. "Tomo, you're always amazing company. Even if you're not saying anything. I can read you like a book you know." It unnerved her for some reason. "And I bet I can guess what you want me to do right now."

When she thought about it later, she realized that it was the _way_ he said it that scared her. It wasn't a request but it wasn't a demand. He just knew that he could control her. He knew that he could impose his will on her. And he did…and she had let him.

They were in the driveway of her house. Most of the manor was in darkness given the lateness of the evening. They were still in his car, and his eyes were trained on her. The moment the words left his lips they were plunged into a heavy silence. Her eyes went wide at the boldness of his statement and the implication that it held. His eyes were dark and intense—or maybe it was just the darkness that his features were shrouded in. He came closer to her and she didn't back away; she couldn't back away.

He stopped right above her lips and breathed out her name softly; sensuously. It sent a bolt of something unfamiliar up and down her spine. She felt herself shiver, but she wasn't sure if it was out of anticipation or just plain fear.

His lips touched hers ever so lightly and she allowed herself to return the pressure. She could almost feel him smirk as she moved her inexperienced lips against his admittedly more experienced ones. She tried to follow his lead for a while before she realized that she wasn't supposed to be thinking at all, she should just be feeling. But she couldn't feel, she would have to think even more if she intended to feel something. She felt his hand move from her shoulder to the base of her neck and his fingertips massaged her scalp. She felt herself lean into his hand which in turn caused him to press down harder on her mouth. She couldn't find his rhythm, and it was frustrating her. She frowned a little and pressed into him a little more, as if somehow the action would tell him that she was irritated with his sporadic movements. He misinterpreted completely and pulled her closer to him; his fingers now gripping her hair tightly, upsetting her hairdo. He tilted his head to the side and let his tongue slide out to her lips. She was too stunned to respond so he relented. He let his lips travel down her jaw and toward her ear. He stopped and bit into the soft skin of her neck. She sucked in a sharp breath and could not deny that his tongue felt very _very_ good against her flesh. Her hands went up to cradle his head into her neck and a strange voice that seemed to be coming from her lips asked him not to stop. Her breath came in shallow gasps, her skin felt that it had been set ablaze and her heart raced as he bit down on a particularly sensitive bundle of nerves. She closed her eyes and let his lips and teeth and tongue take her on a journey.

But she was pulled out of her state of pleasure rather cruelly when they saw the porch light go on. He pulled away from her in a rush just in time to watch the front door being swung open to reveal a very pissed of Sonomi Daidouji. She glared at her daughter through the windshield and waited patiently for her to say goodnight and exit the car.

Tomoyo swallowed harshly. Her mouth had gone very dry and her hands had begun to sweat. She mumbled a vague, distracted goodnight and ran out of the hummer. Sonomi shot a seething glare and Shiro before he sped off and she slammed the front door.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Sonomi's voice was at a dangerous pitch.

"Mama, I'm back before curfew." Tomoyo tried to reason, but she already knew she was fighting a losing battle.

"Sit down!" Tomoyo plopped down obediently. "I'm so ashamed of you. Never would I have ever expected such atrocious behavior from you."

"It was just a kiss Mom." She was ashamed of herself but that didn't give her mom the right to yell at her over it.

"I don't care if it was a peck on the cheek or if you tongue was down his throat, I will not tolerate behavior like that _from my daughter_ in my house; on my property." If Sonomi's ears had the ability to steam, they would have been.

"That's so unfair. It's not like I was having sex with him!" she regretted it the moment the words got past her tongue.

"Tomoyo. It's not about what you were doing. I don't care. I trust you to make good decisions. But please, show a little respect for me."

"Mom…"

"Would you like to see your only daughter being mauled by some strange boy in your driveway? Right outside your window?" Sonomi paused and studied Tomoyo's expression. "He didn't introduce himself to me. He didn't drop you at the front door. He didn't behave appropriately with you— "

But Tomoyo cut her off. "Mom, things change. Things _have _changed. You can't speak about things like propriety now." She averted her mother's eyes and her finger tips massaged the spot on her neck where his lips had been. She hated herself for wishing that his lips were still sucking on her slightly sore collar. "People don't ask permission anymore. Feminism put an end to being dropped at the door, or having the door held open for you, or being offered an arm to hold while you walk, or being asked your permission before you are kissed. I have nothing against feminism, but it's just given guys a reason to be complete jerks!" she realized that she was making no sense but she just needed to keep talking. As long as she kept talkign she could let her mind calm down enough to process what had just happened.

"Tomoyo." Sonomi was shocked to say the least.

She hadn't realized that she was crying till she sniffed in a watery breath. "I didn't want to kiss him." she locked gazes with her mother. "Why did I kiss him, Mom? I know I didn't want to" But she was up the stairs and out of her mother's reach before anything could be said or done.

Her clock was buzzing madly when she realized that she had woken in the same position she had gone to sleep: sprawled across her bed with tears running down her cheeks. Her face was smeared with the makeup she had neglected to clean up, and her eyes were still red and puffy. None of this concerned her however as she stared back at her reflection. She could not for the life of her understand why she felt so terrible. She liked Shiro. She had gone on a date with Shiro. She had kissed Shiro. By normal teenage standards it was a perfect night—right down to the excitement of having being caught doing something more or less bad. She should have been feeling elated and liberated and wild. But all she could feel was disappointment; like she had forfeited a better part of herself for something that was ultimately not worth it. She hadn't felt—really _felt_—anything when he kissed her…or when she kissed him.

Her gaze honed in on the unmistakable proof of her late night escapade. There was no way she could hide it. _What will he think of me now?_

**a/n: i hope that wasn't too vague :]**

**look forward to good things in upcoming chapters!!!!!!!!!!!!!! **

**feedback is always a bonus. and again, thank you to everyone who has stuck around for this long. you guys are awesome!  
**


	8. Cracks in the Foundation

**a/n its taken forever and a day, but... yeaaaa new chapter :]**

**ch 8: cracks in the foundation**

"Did you hear about Daidouji?" "Yeah! I never thought she was such a little freak!" "Damn, Shiro, you bagged yourself a hottie. Way to go, Man!" "Mad props for tappin' that bro!"

_It can't be true._ Eriol found himself in the library with an increasingly low attention span and an increasingly painful migraine. _There is no way it's true_. He massaged his temple as he tried again to solve the problem in front of him. _They're just over exaggerating the whole situation. _ He could feel himself grit his teeth as the point to yet another pencil snapped off. He paused, and started at the hole in his paper. _What if she did?_

"You're taking this rather well." Syaoran surveyed the damage on his best friend and snorted. "I was really surprised that you hadn't kicked the shit out of Shiro already."

Eriol raised his head and looked ahead of him, not really making eye contact with anything. "So it's true then?" his voice left him in a hoarse whisper.

"I don't wanna believe it." Syaoran looked wryly over his shoulder. "But apparently it's all over the girls' school as well." Syaoran let out a grunt. "This is all probably that bastards doing. He probably made up the whole thing just to get some cred. I wouldn't put it past him. Daidouji must be feeling terrible about the rumors"

Eriol looked up a bit. He hadn't thought about it that way. He hadn't even considered that Tomoyo would be feeling awful. "What would you do?" he paused, and shifted in his seat. He was never the violent type, choosing instead to just laugh off problems or negotiate his way into a peaceful compromise. But this—this new development—was making him want to do terrible things to a certain boy who had dared to cross him. He needed to know that he wasn't overreacting. "If it was Sakura, what would you do?"

Syaoran's eyes flashed with something that Eriol could not describe. "I'd kill him." There was no hesitation in his answer.

"Don't you think that that's a bit excessive?" Eriol cocked his head to the side, curious at his friend's change in demeanor. It was no secret that Syaoran punched first and asked questions later—but still, he was generally a quiet guy, and Eriol knew he wasn't too fond of confrontation. Syaoran was not the type to fight anyone else's battles, even when it came to his sisters. Of course this was mostly because his sisters were more than capable of taking care of themselves. But, certainly Sakura wasn't that helpless. So why, now, did Syaoran decide that he would play the role of a knight in shining armor? _Love does that I suppose._

"Eriol, if anyone so much as touched her inappropriately," his eyes were dark, and Eriol knew that he was not joking when he finished his sentence, "they would not live to see the next day. I would make sure of it."

"Why though? She's a tough girl. I'm sure she could take care of herself."

"That may be. But she's my girl." Syaoran frowned. "And I'll do anything to make sure she's safe, and that she never has to protect herself. Which brings me back to my point, what are you going to do about Shiro?"

"I don't think I can control myself from socking him in the face if I see him." Eriol admitted as he ran his hand through his hair. _There is no way this is true._

"Our little Tomoyo is all grown up!"

She couldn't hide her blush even if she wanted to. She looked over to Sakura who frowned and shooed whoever it was that made that comment.

"I'm so stupid!" she hit her head on her locker door in frustration and stood there resting against it. Her fingers traveled to her neck to rub at the burse that she had unsuccessfully tried to hide.

"Don't do that." Sakura said off handedly as she put some books into her locker. "It'll make it worse." She shot Tomoyo a sympathetic glance and sighed. "This is getting completely out of hand."

"Honestly." Tomoyo dragged her fingers away from her neck. "people are acting like they've never seen a hickey before."

"I heard that the rumors have spread to the boy's school."

"Why am I not surprised?" She felt so utterly lost. "He's never going to want to talk to me ever again."

"You should give him a little more credit than that you know. He's not a horrible and unreasonable person." Sakura chided affectionately as they walked toward the gym. It was the end of the day and Sakura had soccer practice. "And you should be a little easier on yourself."

"But I messed up." Tomoyo was absolutely torn. She looked up and stopped walking completely.

He couldn't believe his eyes. _This is not happening to me_. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. _ How can this be happening? _She was there. Right there. Right in front of him. He scanned her for something that would tell him that all his hope was not in vain.

Her eyes caught his and he saw her hand fly up to her neck. There. Right where her carotid artery should have been. Big, bright, and splotchy red. She could not hide it even if she wanted to.

His felt something give way in him. Like something had snapped. He could have dealt with holding hands and loving looks but he could not deal with this. There was something about her that he had sourly misinterpreted, and now, as he looked at her, he felt his heart clench in his chest.

Her face was flushed and her eyes were wide and scared. She looked like she wanted to say something but all she could do was clutch her throat. His blood hammered in his ears and his vision clouded.

_So it was true._

Her heart stopped.

He had looked so hurt. He had looked so upset. He had looked so disappointed.

He turned on his heel and headed in another direction.

She tried to call after him but her voice was trapped somewhere between her shame and her anger.

"Tomoyo." It was Sakura. "He…"

"I'll talk to him when he's ready."

Sakura nodded. Knowing that nothing she could say would make the situation any better. She hugged her cousin and left for the field. Tomoyo stood there not knowing what to do. She knew he would be upset at her. But this was a bit much. All she had done was kiss someone. Was she not allowed to kiss anyone anymore? It was bad enough that she felt horrible about it; she didn't need his disapproval to pile onto her growing list of worries. _So why do I feel so horrible then?_

It was already dark when she left the music room and the parking lot, she knew instinctively, was empty. _I forgot to tell Sakura that I would be staying late today._ She looked up at the gathering clouds and frowned as she felt the first few drops of the impending storm land none too gently on her forehead. She had more than half a mile of walking to do before she was even close to the street; she would be absolutely drenched! _What a perfect day to be stuck walking home_. She picked up her pace as she felt the rain pelt down on her back. She stopped mid-stride through a puddle, however, when she noticed that the parking lot across the street was not deserted after all. She was so stunned that she hadn't even noticed the increasing dampness she felt in her shoes or the cold bite of the wind as it whipped a fresh wave of rain against her numb face. She barely processed that the door of the singular car in the parking lot had been thrown open and that a figure was headed in her direction with admirable speed. She considered making a run for it when the possibility that the person headed her way had less than virtuous intentions in mind made its way through her somewhat sluggish brain but her feet did not seem to want to move from the puddle that they had become rooted to. The figure was right in front of her now, and was placing a warm jacket around her shoulders.

"How did you know?" she heard a squeaky voice leave her lips through her chattering teeth as she handed over her backpack and books.

"I didn't see you get in the car with Kinomoto, so I waited around for you."

"Oh" was all she could muster as she let herself be lead to the car. She hesitated at the door.

"Get in." his voice ordered her.

"I don't want to get your car wet." She looked sheepish, but still refused to step into the car.

"It doesn't matter alright." He rolled his eyes impatiently. "Just please get into the car."

She sank into the wonderfully warm cabin and wondered fleetingly why she was so hung up on not ruining the car's upholstery, when it was so comfortably warm and inviting? "Thank you Eriol" she chanced a sidelong glance at him and returned to watching her fingers thaw out against the vents. "Ah, warmth." She sighed and closed her eyes partially out of exhaustion and partially to escape his gaze. She smiled when she heard him chuckle and knew that she had nothing to fear.

"Why were you at school so late?" his eyes avoided her carefully. "I saw the rest of the choir club people leave hours ago."

"I had some…things that needed to be taken care of." She looked at him quizzically. "You actually waited around for me?" she couldn't help but feel a bit pleased. Her smile broadened when she noticed the delicate blush on his cheeks.

"What things?" he pointedly ignored her query.

"Budgeting and things. And I was composing something for the winter festival." She shrugged and dropped the subject.

"I see." His jaw was set and she was surprised to note that his eyes were bright with fury. "And I suppose _he_ couldn't wait for you?"

"What— " her retort however was cut short when she realized that they were nowhere near her house. "Where are we?" fear began to prickle the back of her spine.

"My house is closer." Was all he said; his tone much more sedated than what it had been just a few moments ago. "And no one is at your house anyway. Mom says that you should stay the weekend."

He was right of course. The staff had the weekend off and her mother was away on a business trip. It was only natural that her mother would say something about it to her friend. No doubt the two women had cooked up some way for her and Eriol to be alone together. Her mother had been known to come up with some fairly nefarious schemes but really this was too much! She realized that he had been waiting for a reply so she nodded. "But, I will need to get my things from home…"

"Your mother dropped a bag off for you this morning." The car came to a halt and he stepped lightly out taking her books and bag with him. "And I'm pretty sure Mom will have anything else that you need."

"Perfect." She scrunched her nose. "I mean, I know my mom doesn't like the clothes I wear, but packing a bag for me?! That's pushing it a little." She was glad when he chuckled at her.

"I'll be looking forward to whatever monstrosity your mom has packed."

"That's not funny." She made a face at. He smiled a little at her behavior and walked toward the house.

"Come inside! Oh, Tomoyo you're completely soaked!" Kimiko ushered them into the house when they arrived. She enveloped Tomoyo in a large towel and practically dragged her into the living room. "Haruhi, could you lay out a pair of my pajamas for Miss Daidouji in the guest room please? Tomoyo honey! Oh, you must be awfully cold!" she rubbed the towel vigorously on Tomoyo's shoulders, shocking some life back into the appendages. Tomoyo couldn't help but grin sheepishly up at her. "Eriol, be a dear and run the bath for Tomoyo please." She ignored the horrified look her son threw at her. "And make sure it's hot."

"Really, Mrs. Hiiragizawa, it's alright." She said for his sake. "I'm sure I can figure out how to run the bath."

"If you insist. Go get changed and dried, I'll get you some soup." she smiled warmly at Tomoyo before turning around to regard her son. "Show Tomoyo to her room will you? I'll get some dinner ready."

"You don't have to, you know?" Tomoyo mumbled once Mrs. Hiiragizawa was out of ear shot.

"I know." He picked up her bag and walked smoothly over to the guest room where he set her stuff down.

"Thanks." She looked at him but he didn't return her gaze. She watched him walk out and all but slam the door shut.

There was only one word she could think of to describe his behavior.

Cold.

**a/n: R&R**


	9. The Silver Lining

ch 9: the silver lining

The day had gone by in a blur for her. She spent most of it sulking over the face that Eriol was currently ignoring her. Syaoran had been in the house in the morning and he smiled and wished her a good morning. And that was the last human interaction she had had for the day. It was night and Mr. and Mrs. Hiiragizawa weren't scheduled to arrive till the next day—which meant she was by herself again. She figured that this was as good a time as any to wander around the house and she soon found herself at a familiar porch. She sighed and let the salty air of the beach calm her nerves a bit. All she wanted to do was cry but she didn't think she had the right to do that. She stepped out of her slippers and took lazy strides toward the water. It was a lovely night and the moon sparkled off of the waves. She marveled at the scene before her. Everything was in harmony. She closed her eyes and listened quietly to the soft crashing of the waves and the gentle rustling of the wind. It would take a miracle now for things to go back to the way they were.

"You should really tell someone if you decided to wander away you know?" his voice was relieved and annoyed all at once. She snapped out of her reverie focused on his approaching from in the darkness. "It really looks bad on me as your babysitter if I lose you."

"I don't need to be babysat." She answered dryly. She didn't need him to patronize her.

"What are you doing here?" he stopped next to her and watched as she closed her eyes and inhaled deeply.

"Listening."

"Well, could you maybe 'listen' inside? You being out here is making me nervous." He shoved his hands into his pockets but she made no indication that she was willing to move.

"There's nothing to listen to inside the house." She opened her eyes then, but still refused to meet his.

"What are you talking about? There's the TV and the stereo…I'm not sure if you noticed my dad's insane record collection in the living room…" he drifted off getting the faint impression that none of the above mentioned activities would have any interest for her.

She didn't respond but simply sank down into the sand and hugged her knees to herself. He made an exasperated sound and sat next to her.

"What's wrong now?" he grumbled. She laughed a humorless laugh and he was more frustrated. "I'm not a mind reader you know? How the hell am I supposed to know what's bothering you if you don't tell me?"

"Do you really want to know or are you just asking me that so it doesn't hurt your conscience later?" she glared at him now her eyes stinging. He stared back his eyes wide in shock. "Because, if it's the latter; I officially rid you of whatever absurd guilt your feeling. You're free to you wander the earth for all eternity and never feel the least bit worried about my trivial problems."

"What's gotten into you?" he raised an eyebrow but didn't let up on the frown.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" she scoffed and looked back at the water, willing the calm of the ocean to affect her mood.

"Alright, I give up. Stop being so bloody evasive and just answer my question already!"

"This is the longest conversation you've had with me all day." She said quietly still looking at the sea. "And I use the word conversation very loosely." He was quiet so she continued. "It hurt ok? I don't know why, but you not talking to me really hurt. And it made me angry and upset with myself. And there was nothing to distract me from the silence so…I came out here. Ironic, isn't it, that you should decide to speak just when I was beginning to feel better about everything?"

"You're one to talk about hurt feelings." He choked out a laugh. "Well…I suppose I'm sorry that I was ignoring you. There, do you feel better? I hope your _feelings_ still aren't hurt." His voice was heavy with sarcasm that she did not miss.

"What the hell is your problem?!" she demanded with a glare. "As far as I know I haven't done a single thing to irritate you! Why the hell are you being such a jerk!" she jumped up from where she was sitting and he followed suit. "It's one thing to have the entire school judge me and it's a totally different thing to have _you_ judge me! You have no idea how disgusted I've been in myself all day just because of that look you gave me. And why the hell should I feel ashamed! It's not even like I did anything wrong!"

"Nothing wrong?!" he was close to yelling at this point. "Oh well that's rich! I didn't know that you had such low standards for yourself!"

"Excuse me?" the words hit her like tone of bricks.

"You heard me." He gritted his teeth as he spoke, his eyes glowing with a fresh wave of anger. "Shiro. I can't believe you did it with him. Of all the people on the planet! And on your first night out with him no less!"

She didn't wait to hear the rest of his accusation. She acted so fast that she would not have known that she acted at all were it not for the resonating sound of her palm connecting with his cheek and the all too obvious red mark across his face. He stared at her in disbelief and she looked on in fury. "How DARE you!" she stepped closer in an attempt to be threatening. The proximity made her heart pound in her chest and she felt her face grow hot. "How dare you even assume something so sordid? You know me better than that!"

"You know, I honestly can't say that I do now." He looked down at her and his voice softened a bit. She hadn't hurt him physically—there was barely any power in her slap—but it still stung in a way. The fact that she was only a breath's length away from him hadn't escaped his attention either. His skin pricked with the electricity that her body seemed to radiate. All he had to do was lean in…

"And I suppose it didn't occur to you to just ask me about it?" her voice was gentler now and it cracked a little toward the end of her sentence. "All I did was kiss him." She looked down at her feet. "People just don't know how to keep things like this within proportion. I wouldn't have done anything more…and it's not like I could have done anything anyway – assuming that I did have a brief lapse of judgment; my mom came out and ruined the moment before it could even become a _moment_."

"You kissed him?" he felt stupid now. Of course he had jumped to horrible conclusions. How terribly (and not to mention typically) melodramatic of him. He felt like a first rate cad at that moment but couldn't stop a stupid smile from creeping onto his face. He felt himself lean absently into her and he didn't bother to stop his advance.

"Yes. And my mom caught us. It was like something straight out of a cheap teen flick." She heard him chuckle and felt at ease. She looked up to smile at him but stopped short. _He's so close_.

"You should try selling it as a script." He joked. "It might end up being the biggest hit of the summer. You never know."

"Oh ya. "The attack of the snooping mothers". Sounds like a real crowd pleaser." She did smile then.

"So…was he any good?" he barely hid is curiosity behind his nonchalant tone.

"What?" her eyes went wide.

He shrugged his shoulders, "Was he any good?"

She laughed nervously and backed away a little. "Why don't you go kiss him and find out yourself if you're so curious?" he smiled, caught her hand and pulled her back in gently.

"I'd rather hear you describe it." The look on his face told her that he seemed positive that she hadn't liked the kiss one bit. This unnerved her a little; although, not as much as the hand that was still around her wrist. She stared as his thumb traced tiny meaningless patterns on her flesh.

"Really Eriol, I'd rather not."

"It's a simple question."

"You're being ridiculous."

"You're being evasive."

"Eriol!" she frowned at him.

"Tomoyo?" he smiled innocently at her. "Just a 'good' or 'not great' or 'completely off the mark' will do. There. I even gave you options, all you have to do is pick an answer." He leaned in so close that their noses were practically touching. His hand fanned out on the small of her back and she barely registered that she had stopped breathing.

"He didn't ask my permission. And that irritated me a little." she tried to keep the conversational atmosphere in the air which was hard considering that her blood was rushing through her veins.

He laughed softly. "Anything else?"

"Well…I don't really have anything else to compare it to…so I can't give you a fair assessment." She all but whispered.

He chuckled a little. "I was hoping you would say something like that." He tilted his head to the side and brushed her lips lightly. She gasped and her smiled. "May I?"

**a/n: CLIFFHANGER! :]**


End file.
